by Misc. we mean "misk"

I may have graduated with a jock degree in something called Human and Organizational Development, but on the inside I've always been an English major. When in college, my circle of friends made a particular point of playing with words and pronouncing them in funny ways. This habit may have originated in our love affair with drunk Mad Libs (true story) but the words we bended and amended often slithered into our everyday banter.

I can't remember why, but Kyla and I took to saying "misk" when we saw "Misc." instead of saying the word "miscellaneous." Russell and I called it the "pff" floor when we saw "PH" in the elevator, as it was much more fun than saying "Pent House." We thought we were hilarious.

My personal favorite word bend though, was Eric Smith's bastardization of the name for the Jewish New Year, inspired by his brief tenure as a receptionist in the Vanderbilt Hillel Center. (Though he often tells people he was born in NY, he is in no way Jewish.) Instead of saying "RA-sha-sha-na" he would say "ro-SHA-shana" with wild eyes.

And then I found a million dollars... I'm not sure if this story really works in the written word.

But, while I'm writing about words, I wanted to share one of my new favorite GOOD Magazine columns, Wordtastic. Author Mark Peters discusses everything from the American tradition of criminal nicknames, i.e. "the undie bomber," to what it really means to "look a gift horse in the mouth."

As an ex-vet tech, pony club alumna and admitted word nerd, I was saddened that I hadn't figured out the gift horse one on my own. You can judge a horse's age and health by looking at its permanent incisors. Therefore, if someone gave you a horse, it would be very rude of you to immediately look in its mouth and check its teeth.

In other news, I saw this next to Canto 6 in Jamaica Plain the other day:

Yes, her tiny denim jacket is also Louis Vuitton.

This is a picture of Melanie with a delightful white bean salad at Prose in Arlington, MA that I meant to post ages ago. Seriously, you should go there. Best small plates ever, and they're mostly local and about half vegan and vegetarian. Go green food!


From the 34 Robes Deuce Kitchen:

I recently acquired a crock pot at Goodwill ($10) and here is my first successful recipe from the great crock pot challenge of 2010:

- Roast eggplant in the oven at 400 degrees until soft, about 45 min.
- finely dice onions and yellow pepper, throw in the pot with some olive oil, S&P, cinnamon and cloves
- Add water, red wine, canned tomatoes, eggplant and thin strips of steak if desired.
- Cook until it smells so good you can't wait any more, roughly 2 hours.

And here is my kitchen corner garden, made possible by a lamp from Boomerangs ($5) and a 120 Watt flourescent plant light bulb purchased on Amazon ($5.49 + shipping). I planted leaf lettuce, dill, cilantro, sage and arugula (obvi!). I also used the plastic bag and wet paper towel method to get some lentils to sprout. They'll get planted tonight. I only planted the other seeds four days ago, but we've left the light on 24-7. I'm hoping it doesn't destroy our electric bill.


Detail: the 'rugula.


My little brother Dean is in Haiti with the Marine Corps. I'm putting together a package for him. So far it includes a "I'm a trivia badass" T-shirt from my birthday party and a deck of 80's era nudie playing cards, generously donated by my co-worker Amie. Do you have any ideas for additional items to include? Please leave suggestions in the comments section, or e-mail me.

Rock ON BostON.