March of the Penguins

My roommate, Gina, and I went and saw a matinee of March of the Penguins today. Loved it. Loved Morgan Freeman narrating, and am watching him on "Inside the Actor's Studio" right now (he is so fantastic!).

I knew some things previously about emperor penguins, couldn't tell you exactly from where. I knew they are the largest penguin species, and that the father does alot of the intial care. What I didn't know was about their 70 mile journey to more stable ice for their breeding grounds, that Mom and Dad take turns making journeys back and forth to the water's edge for food for themselves and baby, and so much more. It was fascinating, amusing, and occasionally heart-rending. I know its incredibly cold there, but they showed the egg freezing and cracking in the cold during a botched transfer attempt between Mom and Dad...heart breaking. But, oh, when the babies hatched! Impossibly cute. Small, soft looking, fuzzy. And immense personality. When they finally venture out, they toddle around, unsure and curious. I could go on and on...

So, I highly recommend the movie. Not a "chick flick". Seriously good, compelling, and such a perspective on such a difficult life. It's amazing what these penguins go through...and how cute they are.

Lions and elephants on the Great Plains?

Yes, you read my title correctly. I read an article online about an article in the journal Nature saying that some scientists are proposing this, since even before Columbus we lost all of our really large wildlife here in North America.

"The rapid extinction of dozens of large mammal species in North America -- perhaps due to a combination of climate change and overhunting -- triggered a landslide of changes to the environmental landscape. Relocating large animals to vast ecological parks and private reserves would begin to repair the damage, proponents say, while offering new ecotourism opportunities to a withering region."

Here is a link to the article: http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/08/17/wild.america.ap/index.html

I don't know what to think of this?!? Whatever would inspire someone to propose this?

Chickens and Paychecks

So...was driving home from work on, I believe, Friday. It was sort of raining, depending on where you were in metro Atlanta. Like it has been for a long time. Its funny, starts out a gorgeous, sunny day, and by the time myself and all other Atlantans head home, the afternoon rain has started. In some places, its that nice, gentle summer rain. Then you also encounter the torrential rain which makes the streets into rivers overflowing the curbs. Lots of fun. But this was a moderate spot of rain. You know those clear plastic shelters for people waiting for the bus? Well, out of the corner of my eye I noticed movement near the ground. I had enough time for a passing glance...and it was a chicken. Seriously, right in pratically the middle of Emory's campus and hospital complex. Flapping it's wings (Dad said it turned the shelter into a chicken coop!). And you know, chickens are pretty distinctive silhouette-wise, so I know I'm right. It was just so odd, such a funny thing. A chicken there, in the middle of all that.

So my paycheck is late. Was supposed to get it on Friday. Planned my lunch around running it to the bank. Never arrived. Emailed someone, and he called to talk to me about it. He also called back after I had left for the day, and something had been wrong with it and they had cut a new one and it should arrive by FedEx on Saturday. No arrival. I do have today off, and I keep waiting for the phone to ring and for them to say, hey, it's here. Nothing yet, and its 1pm. Frustrating. There are little errands I need to run, like an oil change, and I can't, my hands are tied. You never realize how you count on that money to be there on time until...it isn't. At least I am not as bad off as a co-worker of mine, evidently her time sheet wasn't faxed and who knows when her check will arrive. Going on evidence, I guess who knows when mine will arrive, too?

Frustrated. No way to spend a day off.

Day off, plus recipe

Today I had the day off. I lounged around some, and did a little work, too. Called Dad while watching the View, said I didn't know he and Mom were going to be on TV. We are? Yeah, they are showing and doing a make-over for the messiest garage in America. He pretended he couldn't hear me...to be truthful, our garage is lots cleaner then the one on the show.

Ran to the grocery store to get my food for dinner (more on that in a moment). The car ahead of me at one point had alot of bumper stickers. But my favorite was "What would Scooby do?". I thought that was great.

So I am trying some of the food from the magazine Marie Claire's diet "Wine, Chocolate, and Cheese Diet". Yeah, I know. But what they are saying is if you cook your food from fresh ingredients (none of those nasty preservatives) and eat smaller portions while not starving your body of the things it needs, it's okay for you. I thought, well, I can do that. So I tried my first recipe tonight: Potato and Leek Chowder. I doubled the recipe, so I won't be doing this for just a couple meals. If you are interested in the diet, you can find it at http://magazines.ivillage.com/marieclaire/frenchdiet. Its pretty good, so here it is:

Leek and Potato Chowder

Don't know how to handle a leek? Get the easy details here.

• 1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp. unsalted European butter
• 2 cups chopped leeks (white and light-green parts)
• 1 large Yukon Gold potato, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch cubes (cutting the potatoes into small, even cubes ensures that they'll cook evenly and quickly)
• 2 cups (16 fl. oz.) chicken broth, plus additional if desired
• 1/2 tsp. ground sage
• 2 tbsp. unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup half-and-half
• 3 tbsp. chopped fresh chives

1 Add the oil and butter to a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring constantly for five minutes, or until softened.

2 Raise the heat to medium-high. Add the potatoes, broth, and sage. Cover with lid. Cook for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Remove lid.

3 Whisk the flour with the half-and-half until very smooth. Add it to the potato-leek mixture, stirring constantly. Once thoroughly combined, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for five minutes or until slightly thickened.

4 Adjust soup consistency by adding more broth, if desired.

5 Stir in half of the chives. Season to taste with sea salt. Serve topped with remaining chives.

Note: This recipe serves two.

330 calories, 8 g fat, 53 g carbs, 5 g fiber

Our Trip to Atlanta Zoo

Chad and I went to the Atlanta Zoo (www.zooatlanta.org) today. It was one of my infrequent weekend days off (one of the perks of retail management). I was really concerned about the weather, as rain was predicted and it was pretty grey looking. So we packed up our cooler and headed off, umbrellas in hand.

We had alot of fun. It is a sort of small zoo (I guess since visiting the San Diego Zoo, zoos will seem small), but well done. Chad's favorite animals were the elephants. They were very red, due to rolling around in the red Georgia earth. Later in the day, in the Elephant House, we saw one of them painting. But we could only stomach that for so long, as it was rather fragrent. Dad, we did see a red tailed hawk, and would have watched the bird show it was in, but it rained.

We saw several babies, including two Orangutans and Golden Tamerins. There had been hope that the Panda was pregnant (and that would have been number 3 in America, after the National Zoo in Washington and another in San Diego), but alas, it was a false pregnancy. Seeing a baby panda would have been great!

Later, it did rain, and pretty hard. We huddled under an overhang with our umbrellas for awhile, then beat a retreat to a nearby pavilion. It did let up and dry out somewhat, so we were able to finish wandering around.

This is a link that will (hopefully) connect you with our pictures at ofoto.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=l4bsgz6.280bsx8q&x=0&y=-w6jcc

Cows with Guns

So let me explain this before I post it: Chad was looking for funny cow pictures for a laser module (he says if you know of any, please post a comment for him on this blog). Being the internet, he stumbled across this: http://www.3dweb.no/galleri/stuestolbm/bilder/anim1.swf

If that doesn't work, try www.cowswithguns.com

It is well...pretty undescribable. And not violent, so don't worry about blood and gore.

Online Games and Stuff

Ok, so I confess to liking games on the computer. I recently found www.addictinggames.com . And lately I have been playing "Holy Cow", a little angel cow trying to get to heaven by blessing people. Corny, yes, but who doesn't like corny once in a while? Also "Insaniquarium" by www.popcap.com.

The weather here has resumed being in the low 90s and humid, although not as bad as last week. We had a few 80 degree days earlier this week, and that was nice. Hopefully it stays nice on Saturday, as I have the day off! It's such a wonderful thing, working in retail and having that rare Saturday off. I have plans for Chad and I, which I will disclose at a later date, as I am keeping them secret from him as yet. Which, of course, drives him nuts.

Hey, Mom and Dad, yet another technical coup for me! I fixed the printer at work Tuesday, and the fax machine today! At least the report said it was sent, I didn't have anyone to send it to to test. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Air Conditioning

My poor staff at my store has been suffering since last Sunday from a lack of air conditioning. I am happy to report that after sweltering in the southern heat (and the scaring off of air conditioning adjusted customers) for a week, we now have functioning air conditioning! I guess I never realized what a beautiful thing air is before.