Be My Valentine. Watch LOST.

I’ve been too busy to write my thoughts on last week’s episode of LOST until my lunch break today. Sorry they’re a week late. Promise to have a write up about tonight's episode tomorrow.

• Thought Juliet’s flashback was great. I felt I understood her motivations for wanting Ben dead a lot better and it’s nice to know she’s not officially part of The Others.
• I see a budding (love?) relationship going on between her and Jack. They’ve both been promised the way off the island by Ben but I’m willing to bet they won’t leave unless they can take the remaining survivors with them.
• That room Karl was held in was number 23. Hmmmm. Where have we heard that number before? Oh yes, that’s one of the numbers that had to be entered into the computer. Since the hatch imploded the writers have dropped at least one hint to those numbers in every episode.
• One blogger has done some audio work and discovered there was some clever backmasking going on in the audio in the brainwashing room. Apparently one of the things that are being said on the film is “Only fools are enslaved by time and space.”
• Having Juliet’s husband hit by a bus was great and creepy at the same time. I’d like to think it was an accident but The Others seem to have the resources necessary to get things done.

Have a great Wednesday. Celeberate V-Day by watching LOST.

To Aidan or Molly

I wrote the following poem in December of 2003 in the waiting room of the doctor’s office. Marathon Girl and I had been discussing what to name the baby if it was a boy or a girl. What follows just flowed from pen to paper. What surprises me on reading this again is that we ended up sticking with the first boy name we liked and using the girl name we liked when our daughter arrived almost three years later. To Aidan or Molly

The books say you’re the size of an avocado, and if we could see you swimming in a warm bath of amniotic fluid, we’d know if you’re a boy or a girl. In a month the doctor will strip away some of the mystery, but for now we like to lie in bed and imagine what you’ll be and give you names like Aidan or Molly.

And after the talk of names is done for the night, I’ll skip ahead a few chapters to see what you’ll look like nine weeks from now and read about the changes you’ll undergo before joining the family of a writer and a chemist.

But by the time you’re old enough to read this, I may not be a writer and your mother may not be a chemist and your name might not be Aidan or Molly but Jarom or Natalie or something that won’t be a thought in our minds until the moment you’re born.

– Abel Keogh 12/23/03

We Were Watching Unbreakable at the Time

Marathon Girl: "Have you ever met a woman that made you want to take off your wedding ring?" Me: "Yes"

Marathon Girl (appalled): "When did this happen?"

Me: "The first time I saw you."

I'm Alive

Yes, I’m alive. Been very busy with a sister-in-law’s wedding and work-related things. Will have a full review of LOST and catch up on a million other things soon.

Stay tuned.

It's Baaaaaack...

After being off the air since November, LOST returns tonight. I'm looking forward to watching it.  Hopefully its long hiatus hasn't caused a massive loss of interest. I’d like to see the show be around for another year or two.

I'll have a full review and thoughts on the episode tomorrow.

It Finally Warmed Up!

There’s nothing harder than running when temperatures are below freezing. For the last month Utah has been in a deep freeze and daytime highs have rarely risen past the 32 degree mark. When I run in the mornings temperatures have usually been around zero and my body never really seems to warm up – even after a long, hot shower. It doesn’t help that I have little to no fat on my body either.

Yesterday the temperatures finally broke the freezing barrier as temperatures shot up to nearly 50 degrees. Marathon Girl said her six mile afternoon run felt wonderful to not have to spend the first half of her run trying to warm up. It made it easier for her concentrate on speed and technique.

We’re hoping the warm weather stays as we’d like to take the kids on a run with us Saturday. It would be good for them to spend more time outside now that it’s warmer. I think long overdue trip to the park is in order.

My Super Bowl XLI Pick

I don’t have feelings one way or another for either the Bears or the Colts. I am a little partial toward the Bears simply because one of my good friends, Eugene, has been a Bears fan as long as I’ve known him and has suffered through a 21-year Super Bowl drought very patiently. This has the potential to be a very good game. If the Bears come out playing like they did last week, they could seriously give Payton Manning and the rest of the Colts some problems. The Colts need to make sure they’re not letting the hype about them being the team-to-beat get to their heads. Better teams have often lost the big game simply because they weren’t prepared mentally.

The problem I see is that the Bear’s quarterback, Rex Grossman, has been widely inconsistent all year. He’s had some good games but others where he’s been just awful. Manning, on the other hand, can have a bad game but still be counted on to score. The Bears have great defense, but against the Colts you still need an offense that can put points on the board. I just don’t see Grossman having the big game he needs to give the Bears their second Super Bowl title.

So, yeah, I think the Colts will win even though I’ll be cheering for the Bears.

Sorry, Eugene.

Colts 31 Bears 17

***

And speaking of the Bears, who can forget their Super Bowl Shuffle from 1986. Thanks, Jason. I forgot all about it.

Pencil

Does anyone use pencils any more or have they gone the way of the dodo bird? I have one pencil on my desk that I use occasionally for editing. I’ve finally worn the graphite down to nothing and can’t find a pencil sharpener anywhere. In fact, I can’t even remember sharpening the pencil or how this pencil even got on my desk in the first place. Time to call Mulder and Scully.

Until this pencil somehow arrived on my desk, I can’t even think of the last time I used one. I do most of my writing and editing via the computer and when I do take notes, I always use a pen.

Is it just me or are most people penciless?

And does anyone know where the nearest pencil sharpener is?

Super Bowls and Birthdays

After talking with a friend yesterday I realized that, outside my immediate family, no one friends ever remembers my exact birth date. For the last 20 years I’ve always celebrated my birthday on Super Bowl Sunday and people have just become accustomed to whatever day the big game is played is the day it’s usually celebrated. This means the week before the Super Bowl I receive a lot of emails and phone calls from friends wishing me a happy birthday usually included with some sort of apology for not knowing the exact day. Such was the case with talking to this friend yesterday.

The fact that no one seems to remember the exact date isn’t a big deal. The Super Bowl has only fallen on my exact birthday a handful of times in the last 20 years. And now that the game is played the first Sunday in February, it will never be played on my birthday again. For the last 10 years these big game parties have been more of a Super Bowl party than a birthday celebration. If it wasn’t for the fact that Marathon Girl wants to do something to celebrate me getting older, I probably wouldn’t make any effort to blend the two together at all. I’m perfectly happy with just having a big Super Bowl party.

So Happy Birthday to me…whatever day it happens to be.

Abel’s Super Bowl Buffalo Chicken Wings

I’m always floored how my Super Bowl party becomes more popular every year. I don’t even want to guess at the number of people that are going to show up this year even though I really should. I don’t want to run out of food. Speaking of food, for the last five years or so I’ve been making buffalo wings for the party. They’ve proved to be tremendously popular so I’ve decided to share the recipe should anyone need some tasty food for their own Super Bowl party or any other occasion. Enjoy!

Abel’s Super Bowl Buffalo Chicken Wings

What You Need:

• oil for deep frying
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup hot sauce
• a dash black pepper
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 10 chicken wings

The key to the recipe is the type of hot sauce you choose to use. I prefer Frank’s Red Hot. (I use their original hot sauce. I’ve never tried the one specifically for Buffalo wings.) It’s thicker than most hot sauces and has a bit of garlic thrown in. Use this and your wings will have a nice, thick coat to them as well as a little flavor that other hot sauces don’t have.

Directions

1. Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). The oil should be enough to cover the wings an inch or so deep. Combine butter, hot sauce, and black pepper in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir together and heat until butter is melted and mixture is well blended. Remove from heat and reserve for serving.
2. In a small bowl mix together the flour, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt. Place chicken wings in a large nonporous glass dish or bowl and sprinkle flour mixture over them until they are evenly coated. Cover dish or bowl and refrigerate for 60 to 90 minutes.
3. Fry coated wings in hot oil until parts of wings begin to turn brown. Remove from heat, place wings in serving bowl, add hot sauce mixture and stir together. Serve.