Parker Posey is beautiful

i love the way her mouth curls a little when she smiles. I love that, in this movie at least, she doesn't look like she's wearing any make up and i can see freckles and imperfections. i like that her hair sometimes looks horrible. i love that her clothes are fun and not a single piece looks like it came from Banana Republic.

i also happen to think she's a wonderful actress.

That's so ethiopian hyena

I think i've added a new phrase to my lexicon. We just love that, don't we dear reader?

I learned tonight -don't ask where please- that in Ethiopa, people have taken the dangerous and unpredictable hyena under their wing. Hyenas, packs of which have been known to attack humans. The locals bring their butchers scraps to the edge of town, at the end of each day, and feed them to the wild dogs. In this beautiful and unexpected synergy, the dogs get a tasty bite and the people can come face to face with their dangerous, local, and ever present foe, in a fairly safe way. As a result, people become a little less afraid of the beasts, and the dogs more used to people.

As if those results weren't satisfying enough, the people of Ethiopa have gone so far as to cut hyena-sized holes into the walls of their cities. Why would they let those great wild hungry beasts wander freely into their metropoli? Turns out hyenas aren't all that excited about crowds. They only enter the urban areas at night when the streets are free from their daytime inhabitants. What do they get for their endeavors? All the trash they can handle. Ethiopians, like so many other countries residents, don't have the cleanest markets. Their markets need a thorough cleaning at the end of every day and hyenas are only too happy to help out. To be fair, a good scrub probably wouldn't hurt either but dogs can only go so far.

The animal that should be menacing, unapproachable, terrifying, is actually critical to the vibrant life of the ethiopian city. As Louis Armstrong said, what a wonderful world.

Sigh. And baking.

Good afternoon my lovelies. I don't have much to say, other than i'm not dwelling on the hostility expressed in the last entry, lest you all (there're what, three of you?) think that i had nothing better to do. I got my frustration out on my keypad the very next day. One well-crafted, sharp-tongued yet sickeningly sweet email later, and i feel light as air. Carrying around anger like that is only tiring, and i have too much other awesomeness going on.

Like this coming week i have a slew of baking to do, and my dear readers, let me tell you, though tiring, i enjoy it. Hell, if being a chef or baker didn't mean such horrible hours/pay, i'd be back in school in a heartbeat. Well, let's face it, if the market doesn't improve i may get my shot at stove top glory after all.

What's on the menu you ask? Well, my folks are planning on homemade pizza, crabs and some fairly typical BBQ fare over the course of the weekend. We've got a few reasons to celebrate -hence the massive Covati gathering- so i'm planning to make my increasingly popular and eternally infamous Smashcake- this time Version 2.0 -Dark chocolate and orange. Joining my signature pile of sweet happiness in a bowl will be a frozen key lime pie as well as ginger cookies (there are some in the crowd not so keen on chocolate). For breakfast my contribution is maple oat scones that are, as us un-culinarily educated might say pretty damn tasty.

So there you have it. What are we eating in our humble household, did you ask? Well the boy will be having his usual rocks (Science Diet for sensitive tummies) with filtered water and a tantalizing raw hide-&*^%&(*&^)%!!-which he just puked up on my leg. Awesome. Excuse me whilst i clean.

Pardon the interruption.
Eh-hem, now that that unpleasantness is cleaned up. The humans in the apartment will be having an old school taco night. Complete with homemade salsa and frijoles negros - that's black beans to you white boy. ;)

happy eating!