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Tonight's "let's try and clear out some space in the freezer" dinner: salmon filets in a balsamic glaze (1/2 cup balsamic vinegar cooked down to a bit under 1/4 cup, 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil, whisked together with some black pepper), roasted apple and cranberry orzo (I confess, that one's from Schwan's) , and baby spring greens topped with some of the balsamic glaze and a small dusting of chopped pecans. Om nom nom. Not particularly challenging recipe-wise, but if you happen to know how often I just have takeout or a box of mac 'n' cheese because of sheer laziness and/or getting home after 8 PM, you'll understand why I'm pleased with myself for cooking an actual meal.

(PS - Unrelated to food, but related to the "now playing" field: Portishead fans, their set at Coachella a couple of days ago is posted at Deaf Indie Elephants)

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More books!

21. Women and Money, Suze Orman. I kind of regret spending money on this. I know a lot of people really love her, but I found this a bit condescending (despite what Amazon says) and it didn't tell me anything that I haven't heard before. Meh.


22. The Woad to Wuin, Peter David. Yes, the jokes still continue even unto the book titles. B5 fans might be amused (or horrified) by my favorite joke in the series to date: the chapter involving an escape through the underground passages populated by the shadows of long-dead trolls ("Fuhgeddaboudit!") and across the Middle Finger into the Tragic Waste is called "In the Shadow of Ba'Da'Boom". <cue groaning> Really liked the first book in the series, like the anti-hero (but not as much as I did the first time around), still like the humor, but I thought the whole "Peacelord" segment really, really dragged. Let's see how the next book fares.


23. Arkham Asylum, Grant Morrison/Dave McKean. chadu is not allowed to take me into comic stores anymore, because I am constitutionally unable to walk out without something in hand. Sunday, it was the snazzy 15th anniversary edition of this book, with the script and the commentary from Grant. I probably should not have read this on a gray, cold, rainy day when I'd not had enough sleep. Cheerful it ain't, unsurprisingly. I really appreciated having the script that I could refer to when I'd stare at a page and go "What just happened here?", and the commentary was a bonus. And no, I don't mean it about not being allowed to take me to comic stores.

And let's call it "number 23.5": "This is Not Viva Lars Vegas" (note before clicking that link: you are likely to stumble onto some NSFW images), which I found strangely entertaining. Um. Well, see, there's this giraffe-headed former fertility demi-god, and a remake of a movie about him that he's protesting, and an interviewer who wasn't even supposed to be here today really would be happier to not be back in Amsterdam reliving painful memories. Note: this may not be Viva Lars Vegas, but it is definitely not for the kiddies. I can't tell you exactly why I was so entertained by it, but I was. You can pick it up, if you want, over at IPR.