Wheeeeeee!

Today I jumped out of a plane!

For Valentine's Day, Husband got me a tandem skydive. It's my second time doing this.

In a tandem jump, I wear a harness and am clipped tightly to an experienced diver. The first time was with Ronaldo from Brazil, at least 5 years ago. This time it was with Johan from South Africa.

Both times were amazing. Both times we jumped out at 14,000 feet.

It was a beautiful, gorgeous day. Sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and warm -- 70F.

The most nerve wracking part was the actual push out of the plane, done by Johan. Then you're just free falling, air rushing past so, so fast, it's almost hard to breathe. Good thing they gave me goggles.

Then the chute opens, there's a bit of a jerk as your momentum suddenly changes and then it's lovely, and peaceful, floating. I could also see Stone Mountain from where I was up in the air in Carrollton, which is nearly to the Alabama border.

It's interesting. About a year ago, Husband and I went to Miami for something and he got me an appointment to parasail. But I just couldn't do it when the time came. I was just so afraid. I don't know if it was the hormones I was taking that made me so risk adverse. Or it was the stress of work that made me so risk adverse. I talked about the skydiving thing a few weeks ago with someone and it made me sad to think that I had become so afraid of parasailing.

But now that I've quit the old job in January and started my own consulting business (grant proposal writing), I am so much happier. And when Husband gave me the skydiving gift, I was just excited, not afraid at all.

The Conspirator

Last night I saw a screening of Robert Redford's new movie, "The Conspirator." It's the true story of Mary Surratt, who ran a boarding house in Washington, DC. Her son John Surratt was friends with John Wilkes Booth, who killed Abraham Lincoln. She was arrested and tried for her role in the conspiracy that led to his assassination.

The movie was packed with big names. Robin Wright, formerly married to Sean Penn, played Mary Surratt. She was amazing. And unrecognizable. She sure doesn't look like Buttercup from "The Princess Bride." James McAvoy plays her attorney, who was a captain in the Union army. He starts out not wanting to defend her, but as a lawyer, believing in the rule of law and the US Constitution even in the time of war, really works to make sure the trial is fair and legal.

Since it's a true story, not gonna feel like I'm spoiling anything to say that it does not end well for many characters.

The screening was held as part of the American Bar Association conference. I went with a friend who is attending the conf. So the audience was largely lawyers. Talk about a sympathetic audience.

As I was watching, I wondered if it was filmed in Savannah. The houses where the main floor was on the second, not the easily flooded first floor, seemed familiar. And the fort made me think of Ft. Pulaski. After some internet searching, it turns out that it was filmed in Savannah.

Other big names: Kevin Kline, Alexis Bledel (Rory!), Colm Meaney (O'Brien!), Justin Long (can't stop thinking of him as the Mac guy), Tom Wilkinson. Other actors whose faces I recognized but couldn't place until the credits were Jonathon Groff (Jesse from Glee -- does good smarm), and James Badge Dale from Rubicon. I recognized Norman Reedus right away, who played Darryl in the Walking Dead.

The message was pretty clear that even in the time of war, the rule of law and habeas corpus, etc must be upheld, that everyone deserves a fair trial, and no one should be railroaded into a conviction to satisfy national blood lust. The ghost of Guantanamo Bay and the war of terror was pretty clear. Not a whole lot of subtlety in the movie. The Conspiracy could refer to those who plotted to kill Lincoln and to the Secy of War and the military tribunal that was determined to punish someone.

All in all, it was a good movie. I'd definitely recommend it when it comes out. If nothing else, for Robin Wright's performance.

Downton Abbey and the Gilded Age

Just watched the first 2 episodes of Downton Abbey. Full videos available on the PBS website until mid February.

The closeted gay footman made me think of the Dr. Who episode with Agatha Christie. Didn't watch the whole episode, but one of the servants was gay and had a thing with one of the gentleman. When the gentleman was killed, Donna lamented that the servant couldn't even grieve openly. I like that the Whoniverse is so positive about the different kinds of sexuality.

BBC America is replaying Torchwood. I caught 2 of my favorite episodes: the one where Capt Jack meets Capt Jack, and with Toshiko and the frozen WWI soldier. I guess I just like the short, tragic love story. However, not going to go see Gnomeo and Juliet. Seriously. That is a movie coming out soon.

Anyway, I've put The Buccaneers at the top of my Netflix queue. It's based on the unfinished Edith Wharton novel where 4 young heiresses go to England to find husbands in the late 1800s. It's like the story from Cora Crowley's point of view.

Vindaloo

So much stuff going on, starting new things. I've had meetings with people who do what I want to do as a consultant, and am getting good feed back. Going to draft a prospectus some time this week. And a budget. Exciting stuff, eh?

Anyway, I'm still on a cooking kick. Today, I caught an episode of Aarti Party on the Food Network and the recipe for Beef Vindaloo and Cucumber Raita looked good. Will modify to use the chicken I have. I went with this partly because I have one cucumber and half a container of plain yogurt already and had been trying to figure out what to do with them. And I have a container of garam masala spices too.

After scanning the web for recipes, the basics seem to be:

1. Fry up a few diced onions and garlic. Can do. That's the basis for pretty much anything savory I cook.

2. Add in bite-sized chunks of meat and brown.

3. Add garam masala, hot peppers, brown sugar and vinegar until thick sauce results.

4. Simmer covered until meat is done.

I'll probably serve it with rice, but Aarti also showed how to make chapatis.

mmm. Getting hungry already.

One Big Table turns me onto red cabbage

So I've dived into One Big Table cookbook of recipes gathered from home cooks across the US.

Above is Katherine Dieckmann's Beet and Corn Salad. The biggest ingredient is actually red cabbage. And based on this recipe, I've been eating alot more red cabbage in salads. And next time, I'm going to use canned beets. It was not worth it to cook beets. It's messy.

I took it to a party and got good reviews, especially when combined with cheese.

I also made green goddess dressing and have discovered that I am not a big fan of parsley.

Below is Catfish ala Kenny. Actually it's 2 whole catfish (instead of filets) marinating in a combo of soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic and black pepper. I left out the green onions and ginger, mainly because I didn't have them.

Other modification: I pan fried it instead of broiling. And here it is plated. Believe me, it tastes better than it looks.

I served it with white rice and steamed asparagus, both drizzled with Good Seasonings Italian dressing.

Husband is liking my cooking, and it pretty happy that these recipes are relatively healthy.

Hothlanta 2011

So, I've quit my job and set up meetings with various people about setting up my own shop as a consultant, or finding another job, or things to do with the adoption, or just catching up with friends.

Then along comes the great storm of 2011 and puts everything on hold.

Atlanta got some snow. About 4 inches worth. Not much, right?

However, it is a rare event in the US South and there aren't enough snow plows, salt and sand trucks, etc to deal with it. Plus, the snow melts a bit when the sun is out and the temp rises, then refreezes at night. So the top layer of all the snow is actually ice. Makes for very slow going. The local news is full of warnings about "Don't go out unless you really have to!" Personally I've seen cars and trucks spin out and one pedestrian slip and fall on the ice. And I got stuck for a bit in it myself.

So schools have been closed all this week, along with many businesses. All my meetings have been postponed until next week at the earliest. As of yesterday, day 4 of the snowmaggedon, this graphic's been going around

I'm a home body, so I'm not suffering. I have many, many distractions:

1. Tai Chi and Yoga

2. Cooking, especially from One Big Table: 600 recipes from the nation's best home cooks, farmers, fishermen, pit-masters, and chefs

3. DVDs galore. I thought I'd rewatch Buffy the Vampire Slayer but have been rewatching Dollhouse Season 2.

4. Netflix Watch Instantly. I saw a tweet about this article http://beyondvictoriana.com/2011/01/09/56-ten-reasons-why-steampunks-and-everyone-else-should-watch-avatar-the-last-airbender/ and was motivated to figure out how to make Watch Instantly work.

5. Nook e-reader and knitting -- 2 things that were made for each other. I borrowed "And Another Thing..." book 6 in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. It's been a long, long time since I read the other books, but fortunately, they provide a "previously on..." section to catch you up. Especially since it's been years since the last book came out and the author died. This one is written by Eoin Colfer. And I'm still plugging away at Husband's stockingnette blanket. Talk about mindless knitting.

Speaking of Husband and blanket; so it's been cold and I had a lap quilt (made for me by Best Friend) across my legs. Husband wanted a blanket too and asked "is it the only blanket we have?" Pfft! I have made plenty of blankets! So I gave him the quilt and I'm using this blanket.

6. Going out anyway. Even I have a limit to how much nesting at home I can do.

Oh Caprica!

Sat on the couch for 5 hours last night to watch the last 5 episodes of Caprica. It was so good! Random thoughts, trying to avoid spoilers:

1. Many twists and turns -- so many characters were revealed to be different than presented in the past. Stand outs: Joseph and Willie Adama. So totally did not see those twists coming.
2. Compressed storytelling -- I usually like watching multiple episodes at once, but having 5 back to back, without time in between to digest each episode, kind of gave me whiplash. I feel like things moved too quickly, one after the other, that I missed details. And there are scenes I want to go back and see again. I am definitely getting the DVDs. Though I still balk at the price.
3. Good to see Amanda Greystone in action as the plastic surgeon she is. Makes perfect sense that she's that kind of doctor.
4. It felt rushed; I'm sure that's because the creators knew that they wouldn't be renewed and had to get all the storylines tied up. But it's such a rich world, it could have gone on for years. At least 3 if not the 5 that BSG got or Buffy's 8.

The stuff I want to know more about, still:
1. What was Lacy's story? So much about her character's arc was left out.
2. What happened to Tamara? Are we to assume that she traveled the same arc as Zoe?

All in all, a very satisfying prequel to BSG. Just sad it's over.