Secret crushes

So yeah, I've had a secret crush on someone for a couple of months now. Well, it's not a secret to a couple of people, but I know they won't tell ;). One thing that makes it sort of torturous, as secret crushes tend to be, is that I know there is no chance in hell that my interest will ever be reciprocated. However, this lends a sense of safety to the whole matter, since I know nothing will come of it, and therefor I don't have to stress about the potential complications of trying to start another relationship that will, likely as not, end as disastrously as all the others.

My last relationship finally had to be deported after I found out that he's a pathological liar who had me convinced he intended to marry me, his coworkers convinced I didn't exist and he owned my house and my car, and all these people online that he was an Army Ranger stationed in Afghanistan. And then there was the Yahoo chat message, which came a few weeks after we sent him off to his homeland, about how my cruel abandonment of him caused him to develop both lung cancer AND a brain tumor the size of a tennis ball. You think I jest? If only. Lifetime Network, here I come.

And then the boyfriend before him.......sigh.......recently got an email from him after no contact for a good two years, and along with the email were several attached photos of his hands taken perhaps a week or so after he set them on fire. Yes, you read that correctly. Don't ask, I have no idea, and I'm certainly not going to email him to find out. Ah, my relationships. They may not bring me much joy, but they are certainly not boring.

Point being, I am enjoying this secret crush and the safe distance that comes with it. No more crazy, thank you very much. This girl has had her fill. Here endeth the lesson, whatever it is. I think the lesson is "don't date crazy people" but that may be oversimplifying.

Salmon recipes: Blood orange sauce

If you're a fan of salmon, as in eating it, here's a recipe for a sauce I came up with that my family loves. Won't be to everyone's taste, but you might try another use for it if the salmon application doesn't work, maybe on fruit tarts or something of the sort.

You need the juice from 3-4 good sized blood oranges (regular oranges just don't cut it for me, and the color of blood orange juice is part of the overall appeal I think.

Mix it with a healthy slug of hard pear cider. Not a whole bottle, maybe just a cup or so. Heat them in a saucepan over low heat and stir in honey until you have a sweetness level you like.

Really doesn't need any specific cooking time, just get it hot, and then just before serving it add some cornstarch for thickness. If you're not familiar with cornstarch, make sure you dissolve it in some cold water before you dump it into hot liquid or you'll be smashing lumps for half an hour. Don't need much cold water, just enough to dissolve maybe 1 teaspoon of cornstarch.

That's it! It's tart and sweet and glowing red/pink/orange and yummy as hell. Hey, it's the little things.

And a new day begins

So I decided that, instead of clogging up my Facebook page with all the strange and interesting things I find and see and experience, I'll start a blog. I know, I'm nothing if not original. So here we are, March 20, 2010.

My new favorite band of the moment:

http://sneezingcow.com/music/albums/

Heard them on "Wait Wait Don't Tell me" on NPR this afternoon while I was driving through the farmlands north of town and falling in love with the beat up old barns, as I tend to do. Barns are just plain beautiful. Maybe if you grew up with them you don't find them quite as enchanting, but I didn't, and thus I do.

And I cannot even begin to explain this: http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=46248 but it truly does tend to make the majority of viewers want to gouge out their own eyes. And yet they cannot look away.............

So went down to the farmer's market on campus today. Been wanting to check it out for years but #1, I am always frightened by unfamiliar social situations, and #2, I did not, until recently, possess a campus parking pass ;). I love you, overpriced parking pass! The market was okay. A bit too commercial, a bit more crowded than I like, and sorely in need of a good drum circle, but overall it was a lovely start to a lovely spring day.

Some people, I'm sure, don't understand the amazing healing powers that sunshine and warmth can have on an Alaskan, but the transformation is truly magical. For the first time in many months I felt almost happy. All I needed to make it perfect was a good dog and a good man to share the day with, but lacking those I made the best of it.