January, 2013 | The Plaid Pladd Blog

Archive for January, 2013

The 4 Best Emails I’ve Ever Received from Town of Cary

January 22nd, 2013 by pladd

We all know I can’t get enough municipal government, which is why I signed up for every listserv the Town of Cary puts out when I moved here. There was a long list of them, and I just clicked “Select All” thinking, whatever, I live here so everything they put out will be relevant to me. I rethought this position around the third time I got an email seeking contractors to fix sidewalks, but I’ve stuck it out, and Town of Cary rewards me, pretty much weekly. I don’t know who writes these emails, but I’m pretty sure they’re bored, because they often have subjects like:

1. Who’s Grabbing Cary’s Stormwater Grates?

This one arrived January 4th and the first sentence is:

Weighing several hundred pounds, stormwater grates serve to prevent people, vehicles, bikes and other objects and debris from falling into stormdrains, but in Cary, a heavyweight is stealing them and creating serious safety issues in parking lots.

Apparently 10 storm grates went missing from parking lots in the five day period of 12/31/12–1/4/13, bringing total thefts since last July to over 30. This is a ridiculous crime because why are you doing this and also how???. And I love that the email I got about it was not “Rash of stormwater grate thefts plagues Cary” but “Who is stealing these grates? Answer: a heavyweight”. I’ll keep a look out for really muscley people walking around Food Lion, Town of Cary Listserv, don’t you worry.

2. Rogue “Red Ryder” Strikes Again in Cary: Parked Vehicles Fall Victim to BB Gun

I got this one December 11th (hence the Christmas Story reference, I guess), and, once again, the first sentence really shows that this person is serious about informing the public about safety issues:

Someone has received their BB gun early and is hitting the streets in Cary causing vandalism that’s sure to put them on Santa’s naughty list.

Forty separate reports of BB gun related car vandalism, and the email suggested that I park in my garage to save Trixie. Which I would totally do if I had a garage. Whatever, she’s tough.

Which is good because it’s only a matter of time before they start shooting eyes

3. Town of Cary’s A-Team Ready for Quick Flirt with Winter Weather

It probably goes without saying that the e-mail refers to our public works employees as “Cary’s A-Team” throughout the email. Once “Cary’s Snow Fighters” are also mentioned, and I’m not sure if that’s still the A-Team or some kind of winter superhero group they teamed up with for our bad weather last week. I’m leaning towards the latter because the next email I got the same day had this lead sentence:

The Town of Cary will activate Snow Command at 6:30 p.m. today as forecasts continue to call for minor snow accumulation overnight.

What is Snow Command and how do you activate it, Town of Cary?? Is it with a set of rings worn by the mayor, the director of public works, and a lovable teen boy and his pet monkey?? Do you fight the evil super villain Jack Frost using the powers of friendship and civic pride?? Unfortunately, I never found the answers to these questions because in the wee hours of the morning I received:

Cary Snow Command Closes Due to Winter Storm Fizzler

NEXT TIME, Snow Command! Next time!

And lastly:

4. Tamale Thursday Cancelled Due to Lack of Interest

Did I say best emails? I meant worst. This was a sad day for us all. I mourn you in my heart, Tamale Thursday. And I will remember you always.

Tagged: cary, emails

Posted in Let Me Tell You About My Life, lists |

2013 Cookbook Project: Coca-Cola: Refreshing Recipes

January 18th, 2013 by pladd

I wanted to start off my New Year’s Resolution to make one recipe out of each of our (completely underused) cookbooks with this one, partially because I considered it a challenge! Also because we’ve had it for like two years (I think it was a Christmas gift to Steven) and have never used it once.

Plus, I spent at least once of those years thinking it was a joke

This book actually has a ton of recipes in it, with chapters on Soups & Starters, Beef & Pork, Poultry & Seafood, Sides, Sauces & Salads, and Desserts. A lot of them don’t really use that much Coke–maybe a little in the sauce where you might normally use sugar–which would explain how they could work in so many different kinds of recipes, from Asian beef to paella. But, let’s be real, you could easily make any of these without Coke. In fact, for most of them I think you could follow the recipe in the Coke cookbook, but omit the Coke, and still be fine. It really didn’t seem like it made too much of a difference in most of these recipes, which is probably for the best tasty-recipe-wise. The one I decided to make was “Sweet and Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa” (recipe after the cut):

Steven and I are both pretty bad at folding tacos so the stuff doesn’t fall out so we usually don’t even try

It turned out delicious! I’m always a little nervous about cooking shrimp, and the process usually involves me yelling “What do you think now?” at Steven multiple times before we both agree that they’re probably beyond done. I really liked the mango salsa, although we started late so it didn’t get to steep the required 1 hour in the fridge before we ate it. This meal was kind of weird, but good, and not really as much work as its length made me think it would be. I guess this book makes the cut, even if it is a little silly. Especially since I still want to try some of the desserts, like Coca-Cola Float Cupcakes.
Recipe: Read the rest of this entry »

Tagged: 2013, cookbooks, recipes

Posted in 2013 Magnificent Seven, Food, Things I've Made |

So yesterday I almost had a heart attack…

January 17th, 2013 by pladd

I saw the email subject, screamed, and dropped my phone on the floor

Steven was there, he’ll tell you.

First I just hyperventilated. Then for a brief, shining second I thought “We are going to become BFF!!!!” Then finally my brain reminded me of all the times I’ve made fun of Merlin II or Choppy McAxeFace or Mustache Sam and decided it’s possible that what he really wants is REVENGE. You know what they say: Keep your friends close, and follow your enemies on Twitter. I started to get kind of panicky.

Then I realized he probably just follows everyone that follows him. It’s not like he googles himself constantly, has read my blog, and wants to keep tabs on me because I seem too obsessive (I’m not that obsessive, Sam, I just like to finish things I start). So I can continue the Sam Neill Project without fear of angry Sam Neill reprisals.

Unless I go missing and then later you discover my axed-up corpse.

You’ll know why

Tagged: omg, sam neill, twitter

Posted in Sam Neill Marathon |

2013 Plans

January 4th, 2013 by pladd

I am not really a big fan of resolutions, I think because most of the time they are so vague. This is probably the fifth year I’ve thought “I should really eat more vegetables” but then after a week of roasted broccoli and fancy salads I forget to make a special effort. For resolutions to work, at least for me, they have to be more specific, explicitly stating the goal and how it’s going to be achieved. That’s why my only achieved new year’s resolution ever, the January Letter Writing Project, was successful at all: there was a clear goal and a clear to-do list to achieve it. Write a letter every day for a month. Also, the goal was achievable, at least for me, who doesn’t find writing letters to be particularly onerous. It’s too easy to burn out by setting yourself personally unreachable goals. I’d like to say that I’m going to write ten pages every day until my final draft is done, but you know that’s not going to happen, and certainly not well. Why set yourself up for failure? So this year I’m laying down some goals with actual numbers and time lines involved in the hopes that I won’t just forget about it in a week or give up because I have unrealistic expectations.

1. Make at least one recipe from each of our cookbooks

This is the one I’m most excited about! We have a whole shelf of cookbooks (about 38, by my count), and some of them we received as gifts and have maybe never even opened. This project will not only hopefully help me discover good recipes we already own, but maybe will also help me weed some of them that we don’t need. So basically I am hosting a reality show in my kitchen where each week I put a different book up to an arbitrary test. Will they survive? Or be sentenced to library donation? I’m sure I’ll update you dramatically as I go. I only have to do like three a month to get through them all, so I’m not really worried about this one, although some of the books will be easier to accomplish than others. Like Steven’s ancient Roman cookbooks? It’s possible I will have to substitute something for dormouse. Also one of them may be a joke cookbook by Sir Terry Pratchett, but whatever, go big or go home.

2. Read 200 Books

I struggled deciding what number to set myself. In my journal when I wrote these out a month ago I actually vowed 300, but this morning that seems a little far-fetched. According to my goodreads account, my most prolific reading year was 2011, when I read just short at 193 books. Okay, before that I wasn’t really keeping careful track, but still. In 2012 I only managed 108, so my 2013 goal is basically twice as much reading. 200 is still 3-4 books a week and 16-17 books a month. Granted, I can whip through children’s, non-fiction, or graphic novels pretty quick, but that’s still a lot of reading. I’m confident that this one can be done, but I’m not sure if it will.

3. Knock Off At Least 1 State from My Map

So far I have yet to visit the country's juicy center

Some day, Nebraska

As Brian pointed out, West Virginia would probably be the easiest to accomplish since it’s only 3 hours away, but who knows what the year will bring?? Maybe I will take an Alaskan cruise!! You never know.

4. Lift weights at least once a week

I’ve kind of been doing this anyway, so listing it as a resolution might be cheating. Originally I’d written, “Work my way up to lifting TWICE AS MUCH!!!!” but I’m not really sure if that’s even possible or how. I’m not very knowledgeable about weight lifting so I will probably just see how it goes rather than set potentially impossible and dangerous goals.

5. Knit a cardigan

Apparently my brother has a New Year’s Resolution to Look More Like Mr. Rogers while still being swathed only in obnoxious goldenrod. Finding the right color yarn might be tricky, but I’ve already found a free pattern on Ravelry, a knitting and crochet social networking site I discovered last year. I know, I joined to make fun of the concept too, but then it quickly seduced me with its free patterns and tutorials and being able to brag about my knitting accomplishments. Sigh.

You can laugh all you want. I still kind of do

6. Send out my entire stash of postcards

I can’t entirely abandon my annual show of solidarity with the USPS. Except this time I’m giving myself an entire year since I have more than a month’s worth of postcards.

7. SUPER SECRET SEVENTH RESOLUTION

Unfortunately, I can’t reveal my super secret seventh resolution yet, although I hope that before the end of the year (okay, probably 12/31/13 but still) I will be able to write a dramatic, picture-filled blog post about how I kicked its ass. I am already hard at work to achieving it, but I know it will take pretty much the whole year, if it’s achievable at all.

Wait, what am I saying, GO BIG OR GO HOME, PLADD. Anything is possible with a library card!

Tagged: 2013, books, knitting, life goal, reading, resolutions

Posted in 2013 Magnificent Seven, lists |