Gud Morning! Oh, screw this.

This is Penny’s reaction to the bucketing rain and the thunder and lightning that were ripping through our atmosphere at 8 o’clock this morning.

I got her dressed in her sweater and raincoat only to have her plant her feet and refuse to walk. I suppose I could have dragged her by the neck all the way to the bus stop, but she would have been filthy by the time we got there. Also dead, I would imagine. So I carried my shivering chihuahua to work in my arms today and now she’s sleeping in her carrier as cozy as can be.

Our bonus footage today is of Penny enjoying her Christmas present.

Yes, it’s a pig’s ear. This was the least nauseating video I took of her eating it. Fun!

In other news, I’ve decided to go for my master’s in journalism at Harvard. Also fun! I’ll have more on that later. Have a lovely weekend, cats, and stay dry!

Say Fromage!!

Guess what I did last night? No, guess. No, you have to guess. GUESS!!! Fine, I went to a cheese tasting class. It was soooooooo fun, but I can still taste the cheese in my mouth a little. Some of that shit is potent! It scared me! I shall now share my new wealth of knowledge with you. (Keep in mind that I’m talking about raw milk cheeses here - un-fucking-pasteurized, people.)

1. Ricotta al Forno* - cow milk, Sicily, Italy: Ricotta baked in a bread mold. Vaguely sweet, almost bread pudding texture. Combines well with sweet or bitter (jam or bitter greens).

2. Tetoun - goat milk, Provence, France: available June-November, aged in moldy caves. Bitter, peppery, silky rind (mold), creamy texture, almost a pine flavor. Intense and delicious. Best with a sweet condiment. Wow, that’s really bitter. Wow.

3. Robiola di Serole - goat milk, Asti, Italy: means “to turn red” but dude, this cheese isn’t red. Ok, he says you have to dump it in old rusty brine to make it that way. Mmmmmm. Tart, but mild, creamy texture, mold all over the fucking thing. Chomp!

4. Couserans - goat milk, Ariege, France: holy shit, this smells like a urinal cake. Teacher says “earthy flavor.” Comes from “sandy milk.” Ok, this is wicked yummy but there’s no getting around the fact that it smells like old piss. I feel conflicted.

5. Weston Wheel - sheep milk, Weston, Vermont: nutty, smooth, rich, mmmmmmmmsogood. Teacher says rind edible. I’ve eaten all the rinds so far and now expect to die shortly. Ack!! Ack!! Ptoo!! Ptoo!! Rind tastes like dingleberries!! Dingle!! Berries!! Make it stop!!

6. Bergkase Bio Berghoff - cow milk, Appenzel, Switzerland: how the hell do you pronounce that? Ooh, it’s tickly! Tickles my tongue. Aged 6 months. Creamy, nutty, perfect. Mmm! This is my favorite so far. Or maybe the wine is making me friendlier. Either way, it’s cool.

7. Pecorino Ginepro - sheep milk, Emilia Romagna, Italy: Holy salt lick!! Where’s a deer when you need one? Best pecorino I’ve ever tasted, bar none.

8. Veenweidekaas - cow milk, Zoeterwoude, Netherlands: mmmmyummah… These cheeses really need to stop getting better. I’m almost full.

9. Montgomery Farmhouse Cheedar - cow milk, Somerset, England: Oh my god, cheesegasm.

10. Senne Flada - cow milk, Western, Switzerland: not sweet, but considered a dessert cheese for boldness of flavor. Whoa!! Smells like diapers, tastes like Heaven. And….sort of like coffee too.

11. Ubriaco Durello - cow milk, Verona, Italy: also a dessert cheese. Another mouth tickler. That’s probably the bacteria spazzing out because they have a new home.

12. Persille du Beaujolais - cow milk, Auvergne, France: mmmmmmm……..silky, gorgeous bleu. Drizzle with honey and it’s perfection. Wish teacher was not wearing wedding ring, muy caliente!! I’d totally hit that.

And that’s what I learned! Happy Thursday!!

*This was the only cheese I tried that didn’t scare the crap out of me.

Quote of the Day

“I used to ask my students if they’d rather be raped or have their arms cut off but I, uh………… don’t do that anymore.”

-Slothy’s criminology professor

Protected: Julie’s Pregnant.

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Broken Sloth with Random News

Hi peeps. I've been laid up for a couple of days with an ouchy back that has no business giving this kind of trouble to a young, limber sloth such as myself. In any case, I have to have an MRI and physical therapy. Until then, my new best friend is Vicodin.

Vicodin, meet the peeps. Peeps, this is Vicodin. I'm sure we're all going to get along famously.

I'm not sure what happened to me to bring this all on, but after 2 1/2 weeks of wearing this *not* fashionable pain belt, I realized that I might have to wear it forever if I didn't go to the doctor.

Ok, letseeee……I have a few things to say.

First of all, Lleyton Hewitt fans are idiots. No, I don't mean YOU. I mean those assholes who dress up in the yellow t-shirts and hoot and holler in the stands during the match. This is tennis, people. Pipe the fuck down. And if you absolutely must act like such a dumbass, at least don't do it while his OPPONENT is serving. That is so unbelievably rude. And why the hell do you like Hewitt, anyway? He such a puffed-up, ego-wielding jock. Bad sportsmanship all around.

On a less bitchy note, here are my top ten current musical favorites: (this excludes permanent favorites like John Hiatt who will always be #1 on my list)

1. Calexico
2. The Arcade Fire
3. The Black Keys
4. David Mead
5. Snow Patrol
6. Devendra Banhart
7. Interpol
8. Gomez
9. The Faint
10. Um……can't think of a 10th *current* one.

As for Monday's exam, I picked it up by the neck and shook it until it was dead. Amazing how I can feel totally unmotivated and burnt out on school but I'm too OCD to actually let my grades slip no matter what.

And finally for today, remember kids, God is just pretend. (Oh, I'm such a troublemaker!)

Harvard Sucks Ass

I just got to the school and they told me it's closed. Maybe it's just me, but I can't help but think that PERHAPS adding the university's name to the CLOSED listings on TELEVISION or the INTERNET might, JUST MIGHT be a GOOD FUCKING IDEA. There are a ton of us here right now who didn't know we were closed.

For those of you who live elsewhere and may not be aware of why Harvard would be closed, the snow in the courtyard of my apartment building is waist-high. There are no sidewalks in my neighborhood. The store fronts are invisible. I'm just worried about where I can pick up a bottle of wine in this mess.

I have an exam tonight. It is not rescheduled. Oh no. That would be too easy. Instead, I will now go home and sit around my apartment watching movies, not studying, until 6:30 when I will have to leave to come back here to take my stupid fucking exam that I just wish was OVER ALREADY. I had all weekend to study. Instead I made popovers, a huge batch of marinated red onions, spicy peanut noodles, and black bean enchiladas. I also watched "Napolean Dynamite" (awesome) and "Hero" (sick of the flying Kung Fu, but visually rewarding). Oh, and "Harry Potter" again, which honestly is waaaay better on the big screen.

Ok, have an excellent Monday, everyone. I'm off to reverse commute. Ciao!

Mungry Sloth

Sitting duck, Boston Harbor.

Good morning, Slothville. Long time no see. I hope everyone is well. I am very tired from celebrating Bunsen's birthday last night with a bottle of wine, some triple-cream bleu cheese, salmon mousse, cracked green olives and a bunch of other snacky goodness. Too bad she couldn't be there. *sigh*

A few quick updates:

1. I am struggling to finish the semester in that I am struggling to give a crap about finishing the semester. I just want it to be OVER. I am so tired of working full time and going to school, I could spit! *ptooey!* On that note…

2. I have chosen my classes for next semester. A religion survey course (to hone my debate-the-believers skills) and geology. Woo. Hoo. At least the geology class has field trips.

3. I am very much liking this man I've been seeing - liking him enough that I don't want to talk about it too much yet in case I jinx it. As soon as I feel like I'm standing on two feet instead of hanging off a cliff, I'll tell you more about it.

4. Thanks, in part, to Bunsen's good influence, I've started cooking again. I had Salty over for salad and sesame noodles on Saturday night and el Dastardo came over for popovers on Sunday. I'm starting out slow with recipes I still remember from when I used to cook a lot. I have class Monday and Tuesday but Wednesday night I will make spicy Mexican black beans with veggies and crunchy spaghetti squash. I forgot how nice it is to touch ingredients and eat something really yummy that I made with my own two paws. My roommate is liking the new Sloth and hoping she'll stick around for a while.

Nose-in-a-book Sloth

Hot peppers at the farmer's market.

Midterm today.

Paper due tomorrow.

Back to blogging Wednesday.

Until then, here is yet another Daily Reason to Dispatch Bush.

DAY 142:

Over 100 high-level officials appointed by the Bush administration now oversee industries they previously represented as lobbyists, lawyers, or company advocates. Many of those appointees have pushed for more favorable policies for their respective industries from within the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Interior Department, and other agencies. Six have been the subject of ethics investigations or have resigned due to conflicts of interest.

The Bush-appointed chief counsel for the FDA, Daniel E. Troy, is a former lobbyist for pharmaceutical firms. Last December, he met with several hundred pharmaceutical attorneys and offered them the government's help in dismissing lawsuits against their companies. By then, Troy had already officially intervened on behalf of Pfizer in several cases. A 2002 General Accounting Office study of the FDA's new system for notifying companies of rule violations, implemented by Troy, concluded that warning notices "have taken so long that misleading advertisements may have completed their broadcast life cycle before FDA issued the letters."

In 2001, Ann-Marie Lynch, who had lobbied against price controls on prescription drugs on behalf of a trade group, was made the deputy assistant secretary in the office of policy within the Department of Health and Human Services; she has since discouraged the administration from adopting price caps. A report issued by Lynch helped persuade Congress to ban Medicare from negotiating for lower drug prices. She has also blocked the release of about a dozen research reports that challenged the claims of drug companies.

Charles Lambert, a former meat-industry lobbyist, became a deputy undersecretary in the United States Department of Agriculture in December 2002. As a USDA official, he has argued that mad cow disease is not a threat to the U.S. and that meat-labeling programs are unnecessary. Six months after he told Congress that the disease would not reach America, it was discovered in a cow brought here from Canada. More than a dozen other USDA officials also have connections to the meat industry. (!!!!!! What the fuck!! -Sloth)

Jeffrey Holmstead worked as a lawyer at Latham & Watkins representing a chemical company and a trade group for utility companies until October 2001, when he was appointed to the EPA. The agency's proposed changes to air-pollution rules, released January 30, included at least a dozen paragraphs taken from a proposal submitted to the Bush administration by Latham & Watkins in 2003. Those rule changes will allow many plants to continue to avoid emissions reductions.

In June 2001, Bush chose J. Steven Griles, an energy-industry lobbyist, to be the Interior Department's second-highest official. An investigation by the department's inspector general concluded that Griles's appointment had created an "ethical quagmire." A former Griles client has been awarded $2 million in no-bid contracts, and he has pressed the EPA to allow gas drilling by several companies he once represented.

(Source Anne C. Mulkern, "When Advocates Become Regulators," Denver Post, May 23, 2004. See article at commondreams.org.)

Short Attention Span Sloth

Hello residents of Slothville! Today is Short Attention Span day a la Dan Tobin who, incidentally, is not Kevin as we discovered a while back to our chagrin.

You know the rules. If you want to comment, do it quick, because the updates are comin' atcha fast and furious.

To start off today, I present you with what is very possibly the closest thing I will ever have to a boyfriend.