kat suletzki everyday

Knuddelmaus

kat suletzki — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:55:00 -0800

Today's song of the day is Knuddelmaus by Ulrich Schnuass.

Why? Well, it's kind of a nice mellow Cafe del Mar-ish dance-on-the-beach-listening-to-the-waves-crash-with-that-someone-special kind of song, but more importantly, the name "Ulrich Schnauss" makes me giggle. And 'knuddelmaus'? Knuddeln = cuddle and Maus = mouse. Cuddle mouse.

Knuddelmaus has to be the cutest term of endearment ever.... in a woefully silly and sappy sort of way. [grin]

Seen and heard on while out and about

kat suletzki — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 06:00:00 -0800

Cambridge is great for a lot of things, not the least of which is the endless supply of randomness in what you see while out and about. For example:

1. Between Inman and Harvard, I heard twelve different languages spoken, none of which were English, between fellow pedestrians and/or on mobile phones. The only one I couldn't identify was the elderly woman in a sari and her husband.

2. The gomi piles / Sperrmüll on the same stretch contained a couple of busted Einstein bikes, half a sewing machine from circa 1930, and a Mac Classic with the screen busted out and an almost-dead potted plant shoved in it.

3. A dozen suited Harvard Freshman jumping from rock to rock in front of the Science Center.

4. A 4-some singing in barbershop a cappella while walking along Mass Ave from Poster to Harvard. They were signing and smiling from ear to ear.

5. The 16:35 Lufthansa to FRA taking off surprisingly low over the city. Made me wish I was already heading over.

spoken

kat suletzki — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:02:00 -0800

Here's another photograph of a sign (I like to take those, don't I?), also from the Portsmouth jaunt a few weekends ago. This reminded me of Brian... no, not because Brian is plain [grin] but because I think that he would appreciate the very 'plain' font (typography enthusiast that he is) on the bricks.

The whole sign was for a design company call Plainspoke. I took a picture of just 'poke' too, because that tickled me too.

Rudi's Restaurant in Portsmouth, NH

kat suletzki — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 05:42:00 -0800

Bopping around Portsmouth a few weekends ago, came across this restaurant called Rudi's. We didn't eat there, but it was cute to see the sign (one doesn't actually see Rudi spelled that way all that often either) and is a nice reminder of Mr. Perkins. Maybe next time I'm passing through, I'll actually try out the food if it compares to his yummy cooking.

Twenty-five Things About Me

kat suletzki — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:31:00 -0800

This list has been making it around the world of Facebook, so I thought what the heck? And here we go. All my blog entries get pulled into FB anyway, so I won’t have to do this twice:

Twenty-five Things About Me

1. I am terrified of falling from heights, not necessarily the heights themselves. This means that I am scared to death of open ledges while hiking, bridges and ski slopes / chairlifts /gondolas but am perfectly fine in tall buildings and love to fly. When I am put into a “heights situation”, I have a paralyzing fear and cannot move. Also, I don’t want people to touch me, so helping me out of the situation become problematic.

2. I love giving presents, but receiving them makes me very uncomfortable (there being one notable exception mentioned below). My favorite type of presents to give is the completely-out-of-the-blue, for no good reason type. I send so many care packages that the folks at the post office know my first name.

3. Over the years between the end of grad school and the summer of 2006, I gained 70 pounds, topping off at 230 pounds on my scarcely 5’4” frame. On August 15, 2005, I had an “ah ha!’ moment (sort of like when I had quit smoking 10 years earlier). One year later to the day, I was 76 pounds lighter (and still weigh that much, give a pound or two). Here is the blog post from that day. While 155 pounds at 5’4” isn’t thin, I am happily ‘average’. This is my most meaningful personal achievement.

4. For a long time, my password (now not used for anything whatsoever, so I have no problem sharing it) was 99922332. This stood for September 9, 1992 at 11:32 PM (24-hour time). This is the first and only time that I have seen the aurora borealis, sitting on the front steps of the house in Orono with Seth Umel.

5. I am a very good driver (just the right amounts of masshole, seattle complacency and german autobahn) and love road trips. In grad school, my housemates were pissing me off so much one weekend while I was writing my thesis that I got in my car and drove to Denver (I lived in St. Louis at the time). When I drove from Seattle to Boston, the length of Interstate 90 from Safeco Field to Logan Airport, I took a picture every three seconds from a camera mounted on the dash, then compressed it into a 12 minute video. I cannot, however, drive a manual transmission car.

6. I love my two cats more than I love any human being.

7. If I had to do it all over again, I would be a pastry chef or own a bakery. As it is, I make a crazy-amount of cookies every year at Christmas and bake something at least twice or three times per week. I am good at baking, not so much at cooking.

8. I remember everything. You really only have to mention something to me once and I will remember it forever. Examples: I have inadvertently memorized the zip codes from most large cities in the US, know that my brother-in-law’s brother likes Hamburger Helper (he lives in Germany; they don’t have HH there) and remember that there was a caterpillar in the stairwell of the hotel we stayed in Acapulco when I was six. Ben says that I need to F-disk my brain.

9. I love flowers... giving them (see #2) and receiving them (that being the exception in #2 as well)... photographing them... growing them. A few weeks ago, I was having a horrible day and I was chatting online with Jean, who was sitting at the Edinburgh Airport and she called a florist about a block away from where I live. They delivered the flowers while I was still chatting with Jean (like within 15 minutes). I was stunned and my bad day completely disappeared.

10. I absolutely hate using the telephone, and yet, have six telephone numbers where I can be reached at, and forward all six of those to my mobile phone when I leave the house. I will email you the story of my life, but likely never call to catch up. I will look up all pertinent information (i.e. restaurant locations and opening times) on the internet, but will I will likely never call to get the same info.

11. I like peas in my mac and cheese.

12. I have a penchant for bags. Not as in “Oh, have you seen the new Chanel or Kate Spade collection for Spring?”; more like “Cool backpack from North Face!” I have gotten better at impulse-purchasing them, though.

13. Yes, Princess Buttercup, I can recite all of The Princess Bride. Verbatim. No joking.

14. I have a fan-girl crush on a blogger who lives in New York City who I have never met and most likely never will. CJ is a fashion photographer; KT is his girlfriend and the makeup artist that pretties up all the models. They probably have very average lives but for some reason, I find them more interesting that most of the hundred of millions of blogs out there.

15. When I eat a banana, I take the peel all the way off before biting it. I have this very vivid memory of when Elizabeth Genco and Shawneric Hachey and I were traveling through Europe, saying to her “I’m not the drape the banana peel over the hand type of girl”. I still think of Elizabeth whenever I eat a banana.

16. Ladybugs symbolize good luck or good health in many cultures. While I generally don’t have a lucky number, the number seven is generally considered lucky. Thus, I recently had 7 ladybugs tattooed on my left ankle. It kind of hurt, but at least I increased my luck quotient.

17. I passionately hate Rachel Ray.

18. I found my favorite place on earth, Tofino, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, by accident. Ben and I had just moved to Seattle and had a few days to kill before I started my new job, so we went to Vancouver Island. There was this road on the map that cut across to the west side and we decided to go on it. It was a pretty desolate road (though rebuilt and improved greatly) and about half-way, we started to hope that Tofino had a gas station. Turns out that it not only has a gas station, but it the most beautiful place on the planet.

19. My grandmother used to call me Schneckennudel. Loosely translated, this means “raisin danish” or “cinnamon swirl”. Maybe it was a premonition, but I still love raisin danishes.

20. The sentences “The driveway curves.” and “I like your Christmas Lights.”, both sentences that I said often between my mid-teen to mid-20s, (a) have deep sentimental meaning to me, (b) mean the same thing and (c) don’t mean what the actual words in the sentence.

21. I love Starbuck’s Grande non-fat, low-foam 160-degree Chais and medium Dunkin Donuts coffee, regular (‘regular’ in New England means 2 sugars and about a half a cup of cream). I figure my high-maintenance foo-foo drink from Starbucks gets evened out my Joe-Sixpack order at DD.

22. I get cold very easily. My doctor tells me that this is a side effect of losing a lot of weight (less blubber?). And yet, I like living in cold weather climates. I even like to shovel snow, go figure.

23. In a “Say Anything” sort of moment, Erik Fransen once met my US Air flight back to Bangor with a boombox playing the song True Companion by Marc Cohen. He worked for US Air at the time and was standing on the ramp; I was the last one off the little commuter plane. Erik wasn’t wearing a trench coat and the music wasn’t Peter Gabriel but the similarities made me laugh.

24. My favorite colors are three shades of green: RGB 698B22, RGB 9ACD32 and RGB 6E8B3D. Yes, I have very specific taste in green.

25. One of the 24 things that I listed above is completely made up and completely not true. I am not telling which one.

Very Cool Tennis Match... of course it was on at 3:30 AM....

kat suletzki — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:09:00 -0800

For the those fellow tennis fanatics out there (or those fellow insomniacs), wasn't that a great match this morning at the Australian Open between Nadal and Verdasco? Yeah, it was on at 3:30 AM Eastern Time and got over about 8:30 (and some place in the middle of that I was working already), but wow, great stuff. Funny thing is that I have Tivo, but seeing I was up at that time anyway, I watched it live.

As for that come-from-out-of-nowhere Fernando Verdasco guy? Real cutie! How does he keep his hair in that faux-hawk though through the entire match though, is my question.

On another note, and no offense to you Scotsmen that I know out there, has anyone else noticed that Andy Murray looks a lot like Beavis and/or Butthead? Just my personal opinion, but when Andy is angry....

headaches, migraines and concussions

kat suletzki — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:46:00 -0800

I think that most people know that I suffer from both migraines and headaches. They are not the same thing, and in fact, I find it quite irritating when people say "I've got a migraine!" when they just have a headache (joking emphasis on just as I know how bad a headache can be, but they are not the same). Over the years, I have been to an array of doctors and we have never been able to figure out my migraine triggers. Some people get migraines from pizza, or chocolate or peanut butter or the smell of fake whatever in candles or changes in the barometric pressure or the fear of public speaking. I get most of my migraines without much of a pattern, though stress definitely plays a part.

My headaches (not migraines) also don't have too much of a pattern. I've thought at various times that they might be related to bad teeth (but don't have any new cavities) or vision because I sit in front of multiple computers all day. My eye doctor once did mention that he/we have never been able to get my right eye to have 20/20 vision, regardless of corrective lenses (glass or contacts). He asked once if I had ever had "severe head trauma", to which, of course, my answer was no, to which his follow on question was if I had ever had a concussion... well, yes. One for sure when I went splat form the money-bars and while no others that I can recall being true concussions, there is a pretty good chance I conked my head at least a few more times before the age of 20.

At any rate, why am I babbling on about this? There was this interesting article about how they are now looking at the brains of athletes who have suffered multiple concussions over the years (similar articles on NY Times and elsewhere in the last few days). While I certainly don't fall into this kind of "head trauma" category, it is interesting to see that concussions have a longer lasting and further reaching impact than once thought. And while I don't think that my childhood concussion has much to do with my frequent headaches, I guess you never know.

Unrelated, Sidney lies on his head a lot. That just doesn't seem comfortable, but what do I know.

Macadamia Double-Decker Brownie Bars - YUM!

kat suletzki — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 17:00:00 -0800

I had to get out of the house today so despite feeling somewhat under the weather, I headed over to the Mt. Auburn Cemetery and found this gem of a headstone today. Even though it was cold and still lots of snow on the ground, it was still nice out. Good to be out and about.

Also, I made these wonderful brownies (recipe below). They are very, very yummy, but super sweet so cut them small, if you do make them.... otherwise you'll have sugar overload!

Macadamia Double-Decker Brownie Bars

FOR THE BROWNIE LAYER:
Nonstick cooking spray
6 oz. (12 Tbs.) unsalted butter, cut into large chunks
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 1/4 oz. (3/4 cup) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch processed)
1/4 tsp. table salt
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 oz. (3/4 cup) unbleached all-purpose flour

FOR THE MACADAMIA TOPPING:
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 oz. (1/3 cup) unbleached all-purpose flour
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 oz. (3 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups roughly chopped salted macadamia nuts
1/3 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Make the brownie layer:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of a 9x13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving some overhang on the sides, and spray with cooking spray.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk the butter until it's melted. Remove the pan from the heat and add the sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Whisk until well blended, about 1 minute. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Add the flour and stir with a rubber spatula until blended. Scrape into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake until the top is shiny and dry-looking and the brownie springs back very slightly when pressed with a fingertip, about 20 minutes. (The brownie won't be completely baked.) Let cool in the pan on a rack. Leave the oven set to 325°F.

Make the macadamia topping:
In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar and flour by whisking until well blended, breaking up any large clumps. Add the corn syrup, melted butter, and vanilla. Whisk until blended, about 1 minute. Add the eggs and whisk just until combined, about 30 seconds. (Don't over-mix or the batter will be foamy.) Add the nuts and coconut and stir with a rubber spatula until evenly blended.

Pour the macadamia topping over the warm, partially baked brownie layer. Using a spatula, carefully spread the mixture into an even layer. Return the pan to the oven and bake until the top is golden brown, 37 to 40 minutes.

Transfer the pan to a rack to cool completely. (At this point, the entire pan can be wrapped in plastic wrap, then in foil, and frozen for up to a month.) Using the foil as handles, lift the bar from the pan and invert onto a work
surface. Carefully peel away the foil. Flip it right side up. Using a sharp knife, cut it into 2-inch squares.

A list of lists (who, me? make a list?)

kat suletzki — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 07:32:00 -0800

On January 1, I started a new mini-Kat project called the Daily Top (or Bottom) Ten List. Everyday for all of 2009, I am making a list (and we all know how fond I am of lists, right?) of ten things. I figure that by the end of the year, that will say a lot about me -- heck, it probably says a lot about me now and we are only on January 23.

While I am not sharing any of my Daily Ten Lists today, I will share my list of lists so far. They are:

Silly and superfluous things I own and can't live without
Dinner Party Menus
John Cusack movies
Annual events I'd like to see / participate in
Restaurants in Boston / Cambridge
Favorite places I have been
Names I would give a pet iguana
World figures, living or dead, I'd like to meet with single question I'd like to ask
Favorite songs
Flower types (as in cut flowers in a bouquet, not my photography stuff)
Cities in the U.S. to live
Dream jobs
Comfort foods
Silliest IKEA product names
Historical events that I would have liked to have seen
Sean Connery Movies
New places to visit
Famous people I'd like to have sex with
Days of the Year (as in holidays or "important" days)
All-time favorite movies
Books (Fiction)
Most disgusting foods that I will not eat
Stores and Boutiques in Boston / Cambridge

If you're really curious, and ask nicely, I might indulge in the actual list for one or two [grin].

Yes We Can!

kat suletzki — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 08:09:00 -0800

Cry and scream and honk your horns and yell and rejoice and open that bottle of champagne you have in the fridge. Today it is real and I am thankful.

Amen!

*****************

(The picture is unrelated, except to say that this the sun rising inside a mausoleum at the Mt. Auburn Cemetery. Today is a sunrise.)

It's the Little Things

kat suletzki — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:14:00 -0800

There is something nice about small things sometimes. For my birthday last weekend, I bought myself a little key lime pie (I'm boycotting chocolate and key lime pie is my favorite anyway.... much better than chocolate any day) at Whole Foods. While it wasn't nearly as good as the one from Centre Street Cafe, it was pretty yummy. I also got flowers, which I have to say, made my day too, in the same "small things can make my day" kind of way.

Yes, I got two very cool large presents too (thank you thank you), but a 3 inch key lime pie made me smile. [grin]

(This picture doesn't really do it justice)

Cuddled together

kat suletzki — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:30:00 -0800

When they sleep in a big kitty pile like this, it's often hard to tell which body part belongs to whom. Must be warm though. With this Alberta Clipper coming in, I can't seem to keep the place warm, and we aren't even in the full brunt of it yet!

The haircut and other miscellaneous commentary

kat suletzki — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:33:00 -0800

Kat's Day: Get up, cranky and unmotivated. Work some, still cranky.

Alix calls ... the long lost package has arrived! Where has it been all this time? Her local post office. When the postal person delivered it today, written on it was a note that they had attempted to deliver it on December 22 and no one was home. They left a note that there were two packages waiting for pickup at the post office (I remember Michi and I even discussing this) and the next day, Alix, fresh from the hospital went to the post office and picked up two packages.... one from me and one from someone else. Either they meant to write "3 packages to pickup" on the original slip or in the time from Dec. 22 to Dec. 23, another package arrived. At any rate, my package was overlooked. Alix had gone to the post office in the weeks since then, but since she didn't have a note indicating that there was a package to pickup, they never investigated. Anyway, arrived and Simon even said "Danke!" into the phone which was very cute.

Better mood. Even better when Alix told me that Theresa is on the mend. Yay for modern medicine.

Lunch time: I ran to Harvard Square for a much needed haircut at a new salon. Being the Aveda fan that I am, I tried Pyara and have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at a number of things: 1. I am not a big fan of being touched and massages with me are pretty much out of the question, but the 10 minute pre-cut shoulder, neck and head message was pretty nice and 2. the lack of bothersome chit-chat about the weather and other silly topics was refreshing. I am not one for the extensive conversations about nothing and I guess Paula got that. The cut is good, if a little too short in the back (it'll grow).

What do you think? It's kind of hard to see the cut itself, I guess, with this photo.

So, from cranky mood to doing ok. Not bad for a Tuesday.

Moo (but non-cow related)

kat suletzki — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:42:00 -0800

I fell for it.

I try and I try not to but paper products ... they are my weakness. And so, while looking at Flickr pix the other day, I found myself drawn to the Moo.com advertising and just had to have silly personal visiting cards with a photo on one side. Yeah, as if I need more visiting cards (where do most personal visiting cards end up? Yes, the drawing for free burritos at the local tanqueria).

Anyway, I am very surprisingly impressed. The picture (which is the picture above) came out really nice for the fact that it so small. The card stock is almost double the weight as others. The info side is black with white text (just my name, email and mobile number). Best of all: the card size is the European size. Whoo-hoo. Yes, that is important to me... the card dimensions. Who'd a thunk.

(I know, little things amuse me.)

Babies with Chicken Pox

kat suletzki — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:12:00 -0800

My poor little niece Theresa has the chicken pox. This is after her brother also had the chicken pox a few weeks ago. This wouldn't be such a big deal, except that Theresa is only six months old, and Simon is two and a half. The poor little babies, and most particularly Theresa, who seems to have it exceptionally bad.

This pretty much caps off a horrible month in the Eberl (that being my sister) household, which started with Alix spending a week in the hospital before Christmas. I suppose that the saving grace is that I don't think that anything else could go wrong. Knock on every piece of wood in the house. Knock, knock.

Missing Christmas Presents

kat suletzki — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:12:00 -0800

The postal system let me down for the first time in a very long time. The Christmas package that I sent to Alix's kids (my god-children, as it were) in Germany never arrived, despite being mailed with plenty of time for it to arrive there. The more frustrating thing is that the package with the presents for the adults arrived a few days before Christmas and the one for the kids is still missing. I checked again at the post office here to see if there is anything that I can do, but not really. It was insured, so if it doesn't show up there by February 1 , I can file a claim. That really isn't the point though. Presents are presents and it is just irritating that they never got there. They are both still too young to understand, but nevertheless, I am bummed.

I suppose it still might show up, but I am not optimistic.

V8 Garden Broccoli Soup Sucks

kat suletzki — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:54:00 -0800

Warning: Never buy V8 Garden Broccoli Soup. It sucks. No mincing words about this one.

I was hoping to do the whole soup and a panini thing last night, and seeing I wasn't in the mood to make soup from scratch (though I do sometimes do that, and I have some kick-ass potato-leek soup in the freezer -- note to self: use that instead next time), I tried this. I mean, even though V8 in general isn't my favorite thing in the world (sorry, mom), I thought this might have potential. Boy, was I wrong. In addition to having the color and consistency of baby-puke from a child who just ate mashed peas, it smelled vile and despite eating something else and brushing my teeth twice, I could still taste it hours later.

On top of that, my bread went moldly sometime between breakfast and dinner so I was panini-less as well. Sigh.

Sleeping Arrangements

kat suletzki — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 06:13:00 -0800

I think it is more of a winter thing, but Sedgwick has gotten back in the habit of wanting to share my pillow at night. I had (almost) 100% broken him of the habit until about Christmas when all of a sudden, there he was, making myself comfortable on my pillow, quite literally stepping on my head as he settled in. Last night I relocated him four times before the routine ended.

I suppose it is my own fault. When I am on the couch, both Sedgwick and Sidney cuddle; Sedg usually "spooning" himself against me under the crook of my arm and Sidney, after kneading at my hip bone for a good 5 of 6 minutes (it's bone, Sid... it ain't getting any softer) perching himself on my mid-section. Three c/kats on the couch. Unfortunately, they think that translates to other furniture in the house too.

Starting Anew

kat suletzki — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 06:33:00 -0800

Yes, this is a Christmas picture but we *technically* still have a couple more days of Christmas to go (it isn't quite Epiphany yet, so it's still Christmas in my book). In fact, add "people who throw their Christmas Tree out on December 26" to one of my pet peeves (yes, along with people who can't merge).

I've been woefully miserable about updating this here blog but if I actually would create New Year's Resolutions, I guess making sure that people know that I am alive (and yes, some poeple do count on this here blog for updates) would be one of them. When things are busy or not going so well, I don't have much to say, so let's just let by-gones be by-gones. A new year. Do over. Well, let's not do over 2008. Start fresh.

A little happy dance

kat suletzki — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 08:59:00 -0800

Kat is doing a little happy dance, and I can't say that I do those all that often. Happy that America has come to her collective senses and "done good". In 76 days, Barack Obama will be our new president and let me tell you how proud, happy, thankful, relieved, excited, optimistic and moved I feel today. And to steal a line that I read on some blog this morning, I am happy that while traveling internationally, I no longer have to tell people that I am Canadian out of shame. Yeah, The Shrub makes me ashamed. Thankfully, that will be over soon.

Today the hard work starts to repair the wrongs that have been done and I am thankful that so many of my fellow Americans (listen to me, all patriotic and stuff) realize that just by electing a new president and giving him a Congressional mandate does not mean that the work stops now.

The one thing that I am most thankful for, I have to say, is that I could go to bed last night knowing that this election wouldn't be decided on "hanging chads" and lawyers in Ohio. I went to bed, amidst the hoopla outside (lots of horns and happy shouting), knowing that this election hadn't been stolen. That's a good thing.