Terrible Decisions in Sid’s Life: Let’s Visit the Girlfriend

I helped my oldest friend throw a Halloween bash. Costumes were de rigueur, and Sid’s condom get-up won best male costume. I somehow beat out the werewolf whose father was a dentist and made him false-teeth fangs. The woman who won best female costume as a vampire fooled around with one of my friends on the couch, where they passed out and she peed all over both of them in her sleep.

The skeleton (no pun intended) crew of friends who helped set things up for the party picked up the keg early, around noon. We tapped it by 1:00 p.m. It was largely gone by the time guests started arriving in the evening, so we had to get another. There was also a cash bar for liquor. The brother of the friend hosting the party later said he drove through the area and knew my friend must be having a party when he saw people throwing up on the museum around the corner. Continue reading →

Adventures in Turpan: Grapes, Buddhist Caves and More

turpan_and_urumqi&page=2-1

The Taklamakan Desert in western China was the Bermuda Triangle of the Silk Road. The word Taklamakan literally means– Once you go in, you don’t come out. It is still a wasteland. The military tests its nuclear weapons there and they just discovered huge deposits of oil underneath. For thousands of years, the oasis towns ringing the desert have witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations. They have been influenced by Greeks, Arabs, Turks, Indians, and Chinese. We visited one of them. Continue reading →

The First Holiday Without

black and white wreathMy grandmother passed away in April of this year and this is my first holiday season without her. I feel very lucky that she was a part of my life for nearly 29 years. Having eight kids and a husband did not stop her from getting her master’s degree and having a career. I hope to end up being half the woman she was.

Almost needless today, with her passing the dynamic of my family has changed and it is something that I can’t ignore this Christmas. A year ago, my parents and I were deciding whose side of the family to see first and who we would eat with – a discussion that came along with every big holiday. During the summer my dad had to move my other grandmother (his mom) to an assisted living facility because she has severe arthritis and it was effecting her mobility. Not good since she lived alone. This year we are inviting our smaller family over to my parents house. Continue reading →

Recipe Sunday: Sangria and Dessert

11 comments

Yummy trifle and sangria.

Now that we are approaching the end of the year, it is time for ALL the parties! While I have no issues with slaving away in front of the oven cooking and baking all day, sometimes I just want to whip something up and be done with it. In the spirit of quick and dirty party planning, today I want to share recipes for sangria and a marble chocolate trifle that won’t take long to make. Continue reading →

Saturday Night DJ Party: A Very Bass Christmas

Happy Crass Holidays 2012_smaller

The year 2012 was the year of the trap. The term was seen everywhere this year — to describe not just the ATL-based hip-hop of 2Chainz and Future but also the dubstep and bass music scenes that were mixing crunked out hip-hop with dance music to come up with something new.

So for tonight’s DJ Party I put together a set full of spaced-out psychedelic bass music. I think this might be my best mix yet so turn up the stereo and enjoy.  Continue reading →

PhotoPhriday: Season’s Greetings from the Losers

famille_noel_0201 (1)

Go have some fun and find awful holiday cards. Don’t just pick the first bad one you find…look hard…make it a project…keep looking…dig deeper…find just the right combination of adjectives to make your Google search truly productive. Awful cards. Horrific cards. The worst cards ever. Get creative. Post ’em here. Continue reading →