monday 02.09.09

i fly like paper...

driving home from work at the medical foundation. midvale & mineral point. i accidentally stayed later than i anticipated. the building i work in has a workout room on the main floor. i was in my cube until 6 or so, then headed downstairs to use the equipment. much more convenient on the weekdays than going to the princeton club.

-bkh

sunday 02.08.09

she got the money and i got the honey...

grammy watching party at the house. erin had been craving taco dip since before the super bowl, and the guys had been craving pbr since...forever. so the grammys seemed like the perfect occasion to combine the two. erin, nick, ryan, wilke, and i settled in front of the tv to take in m.i.a.'s disaster polka dot outfit, thom yorke's awkwardly endearing attempt at dancing, the jonas brothers closing in on stevie wonder, and definitely not katie perry's performance.

-bkh

saturday 02.07.09

and a feeling like you've been here before ...

making sushi at the house with erin nick and ryan. our second try at home-made sushi (it turned out much better this time, andy). kara 'k1' miller bought me a sushi making kit for christmas 2007. the house is trying to get good use out of it. we filled the sushi rolls with avocado, shrimp, scallion, cream cheese, spicy temeph, string cheese (string cheese?), cucumber.

-bkh

friday 02.06.09

just like every cowboy sings his sad, sad song...


i went out for happy hour with deniz, my co-worker and friend, after work. there's a new bar right by the office in middleton. it can be a pretty interesting place. they have live music every now and then; we missed bret michaels by one day. we did, however, run into some other folks from work. and that made happy hour turn plural. i got a little sleepy by the time i got home.


-bkh

thursday 02.05.09

it's a crazy mixed up world...

walking liza. she gets needy when she isn't walked regularly (dogs are funny that way). she won't leave our sides...lays her head in our laps...drags ryan's underpants into the backyard... maybe dog people use words like 'adorable' or 'endearing' to describe that. but i'm not a dog person. liza hadn't burned off that energy for a day or two, which means the backyard is full of fun stuff. we went for a walk since the weather was being agreeable.

-bkh

wednesday 02.04.09

there'd be music playin', people laughin' all the time...

pottery, pottery. the class is very...therapeutic(?) for me. good people, relaxing work, creative space. i missed the three previous classes. and oh how my skills waned. i managed to puncture a hole in the bottom of what was supposed to be a coffee mug. turns out i made myself yet another coffee-mug-turned-pencil-holder. seems to be my specialty. i went to a training for work earlier in the day entitled 'discover your strengths'. we went over the difference between a strength and a hobby. simply put - a strength is something someone will pay you to do; a hobby is not. pottery is my hobby.

-bkh

tuesday 02.03.09

the day the music died...

i walked over to reina (and neil)'s for chai and games. reina and neil discovered the going out of business sale at cub foods and stocked up for hibernation. reina gave me a tour of the overflowing kitchen. spices, pasta, candies, fake chicken. and especially excited about a starbucks double shot espresso drink in the fridge. we had oregon chai & soy milk (a chilled one for the hibernator, a warmed one for the walker) and le petit écolier cookies as we played backgammon. neil joined us for a never-ending game of scrabble.

-bkh

monday 02.02.09

by the garden of the willow tree...

i invited myself over to jen's house. we met for a sushi lunch and i offered a bottle a wine if she'd let me hang out with her in the evening. i went snowshoeing at governor nelson park on the north side after work. jen lives just a hop and skip away. she fed me little ceasars crazy bread and home-made heart-shaped sugar cookies with pink frosting, and i fed her syrah (a vegetarian's dream dinner - other than pasta and cheese, of course). we spent a few hours talking and enjoying the tunes of tiny tim.

-bkh

sunday 02.01.09

look around round round...

i did not watch the superbowl because it is boring. i fell asleep in my room reading 'wicked'. perhaps staying awake until 5:30am is not good for me anymore? i luckily woke up with enough time to get myself to the diamond way buddhist center to meet reina for meditation. i've been going there periodically this past year. it was just me reina and one of the housemates. we were able to talk after the meditation and learn more about buddhism and meditation, and what they mean. it was nice. but it got late, and we had to force ourselves to leave in order to catch-up on the sleep we both lost this weekend.

-bkh

saturday 01.31.09

closing with travis. his second-to-last shift at the coffee shop. on to bigger and better things in the land of lutefisk, lefsa, and akvavit (stoughton, wi). in addition to coffee & wine, barriques sells soups, sandwiches, salads, snacks. after a day or two the employees can pack up the soup and bring it home. so now i have lunch for the week. another perk of the glitz and glam - the place closes at 8:00pm on saturdays. there's still enough time to have a respectable social life. i met a former staff member from the first year in wentz, ben, on the square for a beer or two or three. i hadn't seen him in years. but it was just like picking up from our monday, wednesday, friday breakfasts in college. except there was booze.

-bkh

friday 01.30.09

wine tasting at barriques on monroe with kourtney and brittany. wines of nicolas catena. i'm not completely sure what that means, but i certainly enjoyed his wines. the three of us ended up talking so much we only made it half way through the list. we headed to cafe montmartre for a 'daredevil christopher wright' show. the first time i saw them was at someone in madison's deck/backyard on a summer weekday night. i conveniently forget how vicious the mosquitoes were that night, and remember only how there is probably no more perfect of a summer night.


-bkh

thursday 01.29.09

working at barriques. with ellen. she loves this magnet - 'unattended children will be given espresso and a free kitten'. she was worried danna would take it back from the espresso machine when she quit. she didn't.


-bkh

wednesday 01.28.09

i got sick. and when i get sick i get real pathetic. i watched 'must love dogs' (twice) until the guys came home and i got embarassed for watching 'must love dogs' (twice). nick was just realizing what awful thing was happening on our tv, which rarely moves from msnbc or colbert. 'carrie' was promply put in.

-bkh

tuesday 01.27.09

fred moved back to town. back from the kind campaign in la crosse to the capital in madison. we went with ryan and nick to the plaza for some drinks. not budweiser. pbr. i hadn't been out and social on a tuesday since...septemeber?


-bkh

monday 01.26.09

crocheting a hat. my bro taught me a few years back how to crochet. i hadn't made anything in a while. i got together with danna and alli from barriques to knit and crochet over the weekend. seeing alli's projects inspired me to pick up my hook and make something again.

-bkh

sunday 01.25.09

marissa and nina came to visit. we went to the irish pub for a drink. notice the bodega tee shirt and the la crosse sweatshirt. and the beer. good things never change. the three of us were able to catch-up, reminisce, plan valentine's day. and enjoy the gray - black color scheme. i used to spend nearly everyday with these gals; it's sad how things i hold so dearly change so quickly. perhaps it makes the monthly rendezvous in madison milwaukee or la crosse with them that much sweeter.

-bkh

saturday 01.24.09

laura came to visit ryan and nick. she was heading to a luau. picked up some brewers leis to show-off to and show-up everyone else. taking a break in the living room pre-fest to enjoy a little 'what's your poo telling you', and 'the new yorker'. a common combination. no?

-bkh

friday 01.23.09

some dozen fellow barriques baristas and i met at our store for a wine tasting. south american wines. we enjoyed the wine and some food, such as a ginger cookie, before heading over to see cait perform (see monday 01.19.09). i was able to meet some of the co-workers friends, fiancees. it is always fascinating to meet the people who are important to friends. i was impressed with how many people showed up. half way through the tasting us employees had to switch to tasting from coffee mugs because the store ran out of wine glasses for the real customers. a good showing.


-bkh

thursday 01.22.09

working with ellen at barriques. her and i used to close every wednesday. ever since the winter break and the college students returning home to madison and their summer jobs at barriques, i haven't had wednesday shifts. it was nice to have another 5 hours with ellen again. she brought a coffee trivia game her sister got for her from the MOMA in nyc for christmas. we had some down time and spent some time quizzing each other, learning about the history of coffee. did you know the japanese take coffee baths? and that coffee shops doubled as court houses centuries ago? and that the best baristas come from scandinavia? yea, me neither.

-bkh