Well, this is terrifying.

A recent tweet from Dave Ramsey:

If the US Gov was a family, they would be making $58,000 a year, they spend $75,000 a year, and are $327,000 in credit card debt. They are currently proposing BIG spending cuts to reduce their spending to $72,000 a year. These are the actual proportions of the federal budget and debt, reduced to a level that we can understand.

I really do not want to witness the collapse of the world's economy. I hope it happens way after I die.

Meine Gute, y'all.

Kristen, Alexa, Maggie, and I went to see The Help tonight. I loved the book and the movie was a very good adaptation of it. The film was written and directed by the best friend of the novel's author, and he grew up with her in Mississippi, so it feels very true to the book's spirit. Viola Davis was amazing as always, but I think Octavia Spencer stole the show as Minnie. I'd love to see her get an Oscar nomination. (And the little girls who played Mae Mobley broke my heart clean in two.)

But! More entertainment awaited us when the credits rolled. A large group of young women sitting in the row behind us (and whom I'd had to shush during the film) erupted into thunderous applause as the movie ended, leaping to their feet and seemingly overtaken with emotion. Then at least one of them broke down into sobs as she was comforted by her companions. I mean, this woman was distraught. I immediately felt awkward. I don't do well when people cry in my presence. I do not, like Truvy, cry with them. I freeze like a deer in headlights and wait for someone to come to my rescue.

I leaned over to Lex and hissed, "Are the people behind us weeping?" She assured me they were. I assured her that I felt extremely uncomfortable. I would have exited the theater immediately, but I really like to stay for the credits.

Imagine my surprise, nay, my shock, to discover that these women were German. German! I don't know... call me xenophobic, but between the ovation and the blubbering, I guess I wasn't prepared for Germans to exhibit such a display of emotions. Unless said emotions are, like, yelling at people in harsh voices. (I am such a citizen of the world.) I felt frozen in my seat, afraid that if I leaned over to speak to Lex or Kris it would look like I was gossiping about the sobbing Germans, which I would absolutely be doing, but I still didn't want to be caught doing it. So instead I texted Alexa, "The weeping Germans are FREAKING me out!" And she texted back, "Trust!" which I didn't understand at all but she assures me is current UPJ slang, which made me feel both xenophobic and old.

So, that was my night.

And so it begins. Again.

The 2011 Mehall Cousin Fantasy Football League now has a drafting order. Last night Maggie pulled slips of paper to determine drafting positions and for the first time in four years I will not be drafting on the elbow. I'm smack in the middle, something my sisters tell me is a good thing, so I have chosen to believe them.


Kristen held the basket of names while Maggie drew, so everything was on the up and up.


Jen was extremely pleased with her spot in fourth position.


And here, if you can decipher through the bluriness of the photo and Melis' handwritin' of a serial killer, is the final drafting order.

Off to the mock draft site to practice...

So close!

I'm here to report that we are so close to having the poster and its sound effects safely off the main page so James can return without fear. Just one more post will do it! Stay tuned!

"Little more than half a day's journey. Yes, I call it a very easy distance."

And we're off! For the next nine days I will be visiting my dear aunt and uncle and cousin, and indulging in indolence and delight and sunning and swimming. Jen is driving. Maggie is sleeping. Jules has her bubble gum, swim floaties, and Dora the Explorer doll and she is all set to go.

I write to you from the PA Turnpike while listening to a song with the lyrics, "Take a right at my parents' house on 869, goin' straight on to Bedford till you start seeing signs for the Pennsylvania Turnpike, then you'll know what to do. And once you're out on the highway it's all up to you."

Indeed.

A special request

James informs me that he's annoyed he has to hear the flame noises from the interactive Hunger Games poster I wrote about last week. He wants me to post more so that the Hunger Games post moves past the main page and he doesn't have to listen to it anymore.

So here you go, James. I'm working on it.

It's appalling the way I indulge you.

Tilapia redux, this time with pics

The Tilapia I made last weekend was so delicious, I couldn't get it out of my head. So I made it again and this time I used a non-finicky photo card.


The recipe is super easy. First you mix up some flour, black pepper, and kosher salt. People, are you using kosher salt? Because it will change your life. It's flaky and a little crunchy and quite ten times better than regular salt.


Brown up some butter (yum city) but don't let it get too brown. This is a quick and easy dish, but it's one of those ones that you have to pay attention to or it can get away from you.


Before I started browning my butter, I chopped up some fresh zucchini and yellow squash and threw it in a pan with a little butter and kosher salt. Soon the kitchen was smelling amazing, and I just love the fresh, bright colors.


You pat your fish dry, sprinkle one side with a little salt, and dredge it in your flour mixture. Easy as anything, even for someone like me who is terrified of actually touching raw fish, despite the fact that I love sushi.


Pop it in the butter and cook one side on low for two minutes. When you flip them over to cook the other side (two more minutes), you add the lemon juice. That's when the butter gets all bubbly and delicious and the two form and wonderful lemon-butter sauce for the fish.

I didn't have any fresh lemons on hand tonight, so I just used lemon juice from a bottle and the dish didn't suffer one bit.


The recipe also said to sprinkle it with fresh parsley before serving but I was too lazy to do that. And too eager to dig in. Delicious!

Now I'd like to try my hand at making other fish dishes, so recommendations for good recipes using mild-flavored fish would be much appreciated.