Cauliflower Soup + Wisco Film Festival

After I got home from work, I did dishes and cleaned poo off of Dexter's bum. (Hey, it could be worse; it could be diaper duty for a kidbot. ;)) Then I ate a quick dinner of leftover cauliflower soup with parmesan shavings and a quick grind of black pepper. I also treated myself to a glass of red wine and a few almond and chocolate cookies from Trader Joe's. Yum!

At 7pm, I'll head back downtown to see Boy, a New Zealand film at the Orpheum's Stage Door Theatre. It's my first film of this year's Wisconsin Film Festival. I'm kinda excited about it because the director, Taika Waititi, was a regular director on Flight of the Conchords.

Fair Oaks Diner + Pizza Brutta

It's Sunday. I'm folding laundry and watching food porn (Food Channel!). This morning, J. and I were going to have bagels and/or cereal and coffee, but the unceremonious death of the coffee grinder convinced us to go out for breakfast.

After a little discussion, we decided on the Fair Oaks Diner on, as expected, Fair Oaks Avenue. He had a pancake laden with blueberries, and I had the daily special, Swedish pancakes filled with mascarpone cheese and topped with lingonberries and whipped cream. I wasn't sure what makes a pancake Swedish, but when they came out, they resembled French crepes.

We agreed that it hit the spot, despite my accidental launching of the metal cream dispenser onto the floor with an errant hand gesture. (That's what happens when you caffeinate me and then plunk me at a tiny table impossibly crowded with precariously secured condiments. Knowing my clutzy self as I do, moving it to the other side of the table as a preemptive strike did cross my mind. But I didn't take my own advice and ended up swabbing cream from the floor and the window...and my dining companion's chair. Sometimes breakfast with Erica is an adventure. ;)) Overall, it was pretty damn amazing for a rough-around-the-edges diner.

Rossoverde pizza and salsiccia pizza at Pizza Brutta

Last night, we had dinner at Pizza Brutta. On the left is the rossoverde pizza--arugula, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, and parmesan--with tomato sauce. The salsiccia on the right has fennel sausage, carmelized onions, and smoked mozzarella. The thin, crisp crust was imbued with wood flavor from the oven. My only complaint was a little too thin in the center, making it a bit limp and soggy.

Afterward, we saw The Fighter at Market Square. Christian Bale's portrayal of a crack addict/washed up boxer was such a great performance that I can't believe he didn't get an Oscar for it. On the way home, we stopped for a drink at The Cardinal.

On the political front, I'm still working against the Walker budget. Last weekend, a group of us did a lit. drop in Lake Mills on behalf of Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate JoAnne Kloppenburg. The elections will take place on April 5, so we wanted to inform people about the election in general (i.e., prompt them to vote instead of being unaware of the election or feel like their vote doesn't matter) and about a candidate who's more independent than incumbent Prosser. With all of the legal battles going on about the legality of the Republicans' and Walker's actions, I think it's important to have a more independent  voice on the court.

Dammit, I love Julia Child!

It's utterly nasty (sleety and cold) outside, so I'm staying in tonight. So far, my night has consisted of breaking in my new winter boots (gotta wear them around the house a bit to see if I really like them before wearing them outside), doing my dishes, having chips and guacamole and fake chicken nuggets with barbeque sauce for dinner, and watching the Food Channel. When I'm done eating, I'll take a hot bath and then do some yoga. (My resolution this year was to do yoga a bit each day; like most people, I have fallen off the resolution wagon on more than one occasion already, but I'm trying to be compassionate with myself.) This post will consist of a few random things that have been jostling around in my brain.

A few weeks ago, I caught a snippet of Julia Child's old show, and she cracks me up. Brandishing a rubber mallet and a big-ass cleaver, she was "whacking up"--her words, not mine--a turkey carcass.She didn't once admonish us about food safety or wash her hands like an OCD-addled person, and she wielded massive knife after massive knife with her pale, mauve-painted finger. It was great.

One morning about a month ago, I watched a poor little grrl get drenched by a passing car as we stood at the bus stop. Her already somewhat grumpy morning face crumpled, and she looked like a surly Anne Hathaway. I felt sorry for her. Her navy blue coat and dark hair were completely spattered with muddy water. Not a good way to start the day.

Fab Abs Yoga in June

Hey, punks. I wanted to give you a heads-up that I'll be teaching a yoga class centering on abs starting in June. 

details:

• M: 6-7pm
• runs: 6/20-8/1 with no class on 7/4 (6 meetings)
• cost: $54.50
• where: Union South

class description:
Here is a powerful yoga set designed to deliver a taut belly and a strong core. Research has shown that excess abdominal fat leads to inflammation-related ailments like heart disease and diabetes. This dynamic class will burn fat with low-impact cardio, strengthen core muscles, and boost your metabolism.

to register:  
Mini Courses has all the registration info.

Protests

I just caught the last pink vestiges of the sunset as I drove home from the gym. Hooray for spring's arrival!

This was a protest soon after Walker's initial budget relief bill was announced. Just a few "slobs" taking time over lunch to exercise our rights as citizens and engage in our democracy.

Inside the Capitol, although I can't recall which day

On a more serious note, for the past month Wisconsinites have been engrossed in Governor Scott Walker’s budget proposals. Some of you may think that this is solely a Cheesehead fight, but it extends beyond our borders. Walker's actions are part of a nationwide, Tea Party-orchestrated effort to dismantle unions and thereby erode the Democratic Party. Scott Fitzgerald even admitted as much after the Republicans' underhanded--and perhaps illegal--passage of the bills this past week. So much for their contention that it was about balancing the budget.

Not only that. At heart, this is about our nation's extreme disparities in wealth. The Koch brothers are a case in point. They pledged $43,000 to Walker's gubernatorial campaign and donate generously to other conservative causes across the country. These two men recently tied for #18 on Forbes' Billionaires List. And what sort of work have they done to earn this wealth? Nada. They inherited it. The Kochs and others like them are attempting to de-fund valuable parts of our society--collective bargaining, education, environmental protections, and reproductive rights, to name a few--while enhancing their own wealth in the process. When Michael Moore spoke in Madison a few weeks ago, he gave us a chilling statistic to contemplate: Today, 400 Americans have more wealth than one-half of all Americans combined.

Most recently, on March 12, roughly 100,000 of us gathered to hear Jim Hightower, Susan Sarandon, Jesse Jackson, Tony Shalhoub, and many others speak against Walker's plans. Fifty-three tractors encircled the Capitol in the Farmer Labor Tractorade to show solidarity for the protest. This largest protest yet--trumping even Madison's anti-Vietnam protests--was inspiring and moving.

 March 5: Michael Moore eloquently speaks about workers' rights and the uneven distribution of wealth

But the best part of this whole movement for me is seeing so many people of different backgrounds united in a common cause. It's not just those crazy Madison hippies or just college students having a party (like Senator Grothman contended). Hell, I stood behind a guy wearing a Pardeeville Curling Club jacket at one protest. I might be wrong, but I'm guessing that he and I disagree on many issues. Nonetheless, we've joined together for the good of the larger cause. It's been awhile since the nation has witnessed a truly populist movement without it being divided by other "social" issues (e.g., abortion or gay marriage). And, in general, it's heartening to see people break out of their apathy.

February 26: Bradley Whitford (in the red jacket with the upraised arm) braves the snow and cold to speak to the crowd

Now we must invest our energies in recall efforts and Kloppenburg's campaign for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Walker and the Republicans want us to forget, but we must persevere. There's just too much at stake.