Chris Kluwe

I'm not a big organized sports fan but I have very strong feelings for the Minnesota Vikings' punter Chris Kluwe.

Dreamy.

Hopefully someone who reads this blog is not a direct descendant from my bloodline, and maybe doesn't know that it is unusual for me to have these feelings for a sports player. Aside from Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippin, part of my Chicago youth, I can't typically name sports dudes by name. But Chris Kluwe and his epic letter to Deadspin changed that.

For those who don't know the story, I'll summarize it here.

The whole thing started a few months ago when the Maryland State delegate Emmett C. Burns Jr. wrote a letter to Steve Bisciotti, the owner of the Baltimore Ravens, essentially ordering him to shut up his linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo's vocal support of gay marriage. I encourage you to read the letter if you think I'm exaggerating. It's two short paragraphs of pure bigotry.

Here is an actual quote from the letter, where Burns tells Bisciotti to: “inhibit such expressions from your employee and that he be ordered to cease and desist such injurious actions.”

A few days later, Chris Kluwe read it, and he couldn't sleep that night. So he wrote an open letter on Deadspin to Burns Jr. It's an incredible letter and I recommend you read it here. Here's a choice excerpt:

"This is more a personal quibble of mine, but why do you hate freedom? Why do you hate the fact that other people want a chance to live their lives and be happy, even though they may believe in something different than you, or act different than you? How does gay marriage, in any way shape or form, affect your life? If gay marriage becomes legal, are you worried that all of a sudden you'll start thinking about penis? "Oh shit. Gay marriage just passed. Gotta get me some of that hot dong action!" Will all of your friends suddenly turn gay and refuse to come to your Sunday Ticket grill-outs? (Unlikely, since gay people enjoy watching football too.)

I can assure you that gay people getting married will have zero effect on your life. They won't come into your house and steal your children. They won't magically turn you into a lustful cockmonster. They won't even overthrow the government in an orgy of hedonistic debauchery because all of a sudden they have the same legal rights as the other 90 percent of our population—rights like Social Security benefits, child care tax credits, Family and Medical Leave to take care of loved ones, and COBRA healthcare for spouses and children. You know what having these rights will make gays? Full-fledged American citizens just like everyone else, with the freedom to pursue happiness and all that entails. Do the civil-rights struggles of the past 200 years mean absolutely nothing to you?"

Some people get literally all the good genes there are to get.

That is a well written letter.

Here's some things about Chris Kluwe:

He grew up in California as a child prodigy at the violin. He chose U.C.LA. over Harvard and graduated with a double major in political science and history. He is currently the punter for the Minnesota Vikings, blogs for the Pioneer Press a few times a week, is a guitarist in a four piece math rock band, had a perfect verbal score on the SAT, and is the physical incarnation of Nietzsche's Übermensch.

Just kidding about that last one, but this is a near perfect person. He's also very handsome! If I were his parents, I would be so overwhelmed by his ability to do one of the things listed above, and he does ALL of them.

At this point I feel like the media is just taunting me. We get it! He's perfect! He does it all!

Right now, I can't get enough of him. Sadly, rumor has it he's very happily married with a lovely wife and two kids, and who can hate on that?

If you are feeling this obsession, and want to read two way better written articles about him, check out his New York Times profile from last week, and Out Magazine's recent interview, with pretty pictures, too.

Until next time.

The Mental Illness Happy Hour

Oh boy! Is that Lexapro for me?!

As I mentioned in my last post, I am loving the podcasts. I don't know why it took me so long to get on board, because I have always been a fan of listening to people talk more than listening to music. Back when I was a little kid, maybe nine or ten, I was obsessed with the TV show Friends, which was still current, though I mostly watched it in syndication on whatever channel it was playing for an hour every day after school. My parents had a rule that we couldn't have TV or computers in our rooms, an idea that now seems archaic, especially with regards to computers, but made sense in the 90s. Even if I had had a computer  this was years before podcasts or streaming existed, and I wasn't a little Einstein, ready to tune into NPR. So what I did was take my tape recorder and set it by the TV, and tape ten or eleven episodes of Friends, stopping it during commercials and hitting play soon as it came back on. Then, I would listen to an audio only episode of Friends as I cleaned my room. I haven't listened to those tapes for about 16 years, but I can still recite ten random episodes of Friends by heart if they ever come on when I'm watching bad TV in a hotel room.

You guys, is Jennifer Aniston a vampire? She does not age.

It's exactly this type of odd childhood behavior that makes the Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast resonate with me so much. 

Created and hosted by comedian Paul Gilmartin, it is a "weekly, hour-long audio podcast consisting of interviews with artists, friends and the occasional doctor. The show is geared towards anyone interested in or affected by depression, addiction and other mental challenges which are so prevalent in the creative arts."

Gilmartin is best known for his years hosting TBS's Dinner and a Movie, and is also a stand up comedian with a lot of famous, funny, creative friends, who he invites on the podcast where they discuss their various mental illnesses, how they grew up, and how they've dealt with their issues as they've gotten older. 

Sometimes the show can be a little off-putting at first. I fully embrace total honesty, and I was still a little bit taken aback with how frank Gilmartin is about his mother sexually abusing him, or the various listener emails he reads about sexual perversions, sometimes dealing with zoophilia, or pedophilia, or lots of other taboo, illegal philias.

However, that's usually only the first ten or so minutes, and then Gilmartin really starts exploring the life and mind of his guest, and that tends to be fascinating, especially, for me, when the guests are women whom I greatly admire and respect, such as comedians Jamie Denbo, Morgan Murphy, or Jen Kirkman.

Jen Kirkman is a funny, beautiful lady. She should talk to Jennifer Aniston to ensure this doesn't change!

In each of their episodes, all three hilarious women talk very insightfully about their various issues—

for the first two depression, and for Jen Kirkman, anxiety—and how these problems have affected and in a way, created, their lives.

It's no surprise creative, driven people often have a lot of mental illness to deal with. One way to deal with the feeling that you are going crazy and there is nothing you can do about it is to make jokes-the kind of cutting, honest humor that is the funniest kind. At the same time, and I speak from experience, that level of emotional or mental pain tends to make someone highly perceptive to the people and world around them, which seems to be a shared trait of a lot of creative people.

And on top of all that, these are also successful people. Creative people already tend to have tons of mental shit to deal with, but top that off with a butt load of drive, and you have a recipe for crazy.

I deal with anxiety, and I find it very comforting to hear so many people I admire and look up to talk so openly about it. It also leaves me feeling very lucky; all of my anxiety come from within. I was never sexually, verbally, or physically abused, and listening to the stories of so many people who have gives me the utmost respect for how they've dealt with that. At the same time, it's also nice to listen to the episodes of people more like me, people like Jen Kirkman, who's had a relatively pleasant life but was just born with a weird chemical imbalance which makes her "crazy" just because!

If you've read all this and are still interested rather than put off,  you can listen to The Mental Illness Happy Hour here or download episodes on itunes.

See you next time with a slightly less depressing obsession, I swear it!

"Adelaide," Meg Myers

This is an attractive person. Her name is Meg Myers.

Sometimes I get a little sad at how far off the music wagon I’ve fallen. Back when I was in high school I prided myself on my encyclopedic knowledge of every cool new band coming up in at least seven different obscure made up genres. But it does kind of seem like the older you get the fewer your hobbies become, or at least that’s the case in your twenties. The other day Steph asked me if I had any hobbies, because she couldn’t really think of anything for her list. We figured that at this age, it’s hard enough to do the thing you want to one day make money for doing, simultaneously do the thing that is currently making you money that you can’t wait to quit, have a social life, and occasionally work out, so screw the extracurriculars. That hobby stuff isn’t going to happen till our mid thirties at the rate we’re going.

That being said, the one thing I have more than enough time for is comedy podcasts. During the Alder New York work cycle, we usually get a month and a half every season of straight up making things. (That’s another job I can’t wait to quit. I'm so ready for the day when all I do in my design job is design). The process of making something is a quiet process; once the design part is over and it becomes technical, there's a lot of sewing and math and thinking, and not a whole lot of talking. This month I'm spending upwards of eight hours a day doing studio work that leaves me stuck in my own head, so I listen to funny podcasts as I work. I've gotten so into them that I often leave work listening and continue straight thought my bedtime routine until I get under my sheets. SEE, you guys, I'm obsessed!

I first started my comedy podcast journey with Marc Maron's WTF, which led me to Comedy Bang Bang, which, created by the Earwolf production team, led me to their other podcasts, Professor Blastoff, Who Charted, and my current fave: Totally Laime.

Totally Laime is the creation of Elizabeth Laime and her Husband Psychic Andy (originally Sidekick Andy but her speech impediment has given his title a special spin). As they say, they focus on "asking the most important people the least important questions," and they usually spend an hour having the kind of conversation you would have with a friend, if that friend was someone very funny and also famous.

The couple that podcasts together stays together

I swear we're circling back to the music lead in. Because, during his real life, Psychic Andy is a music producer, and often they end the podcast with a song that relates to the episode; maybe they'll play a comedy song by the funny person they just interviewed or a song they mentioned during the course of the episode. Usually I turn it off once the music starts, because I AM OBSESSED ONLY WITH COMEDY PODCASTS AND WON'T HAVE MUSIC INTERRUPT. But on a recent episode they ended with this song that was so good I had to turn off my electric toothbrush to pay special attention.

The song is called "Adelaid" by Meg Myers, one of the musicians Andy produces. It has kind of a Fiona Apple sound at her most poppy, which I think is her at her best. I could try to describe it more, but it seems redundant when you can just play it for yourself and see how good it is. Personally, I can play it in a continuous loop and still not get enough the third play in. It's just one of those near-perfect pop songs. I'm not trying to say this is the best song ever created; it's not. But that's also not important with a great pop song. I'm not comparing it to anything, I just like listening to it over and over again as it is.

Meg Myers is also gorgeous, which never hurts a singer

Here is the song: play it so many times!

And here is her website

And just for good measure here is the Totally Laime podcast

Bacon Grease

The other day I made a corn risotto and the recipe I used called for bacon, so I had a few uncooked pieces left over. I almost never buy bacon because of how much I love it. It's a classic obsession; bacon never goes out of style. Unless you're a vegan or vegetarian but I'm not.

I cannot buy bacon because if I cook it there is only the slimmest chance it'll make it into the designated recipe. Usually it goes straight from the pan to my mouth. I think I got the risotto done by chewing gum during the bacon cooking process but that left me with six uncooked pieces that stayed in my fridge until yesterday when I remembered I should cook them before they go bad.

See, to me this is an acceptable meal.

David, my business/ best friend partner suggested I cook it up and then refrigerate it for later use sprinkled on salads in pasta, etc. which I thought was a great idea. But yesterday evening, with both roommates out of town and two episodes of Thirty Rock in the que, I ate all the bacon pieces. Pan to mouth. It's ok, I don't feel too bad; it's a protein so I'm gonna call it dinner.

Nevertheless I still had an actual dinner to go to and since I didn't have any roommates to be civilized for, I figured I'd clean up when i got home.

Upon entering my apartment later that evening I saw that the grease had hardened into a buttery solid fat.

This is a photo I stole from Simply Recipes, but I swear, my bacon fat looks exactly like this

So today I made a bacon vinaigrette and had an avocado, egg, arugula salad. People, it was awesome. Straight from the internetz via Alton brown, I did 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 tbs bacon grease, I tbs brown sugar, 1 tbs mustard, whisked till it emulsified.

I particularly recommend waiting until your grease hardens before collecting it versus the other acceptable method of pouring it hot into the container. Let me tell you why! Because then you get all these tiny delicious bacon pieces left over from the fry up and, oh dear god, it is so good.

So that's that I guess. I've still got three salads worth of greens and vinaigrette left so this obsession will last me at least another week. I'm not a big baked goods fan so probably won't be using the bacon grease in the now passe maple-bacon-cookie type genre. But used on some roasted veggies.

Until the next obsession,

Nina

P.S Here's the recipe. I think you could skip the sugar and it might be even better.

Carole Radziwill

Here's the thing. I'm smart, ok? I read a legitimate news source every day or at least every other day, I have opinions about politics, I know all about global warming. However, I absolutely love the Real Housewives, particularly the New York and Beverly Hills variety.

I feel like Ramona needs to fire her stylist this season. Things have gone so wrong.

I have tried to analyze why I love this reality show so very much, while I have limited patience for other mindless reality drivel like the Bachelor/Bachelorette (shout out to my girl Steph-she's smart too, you guys). Sadly I haven't been able to distinguish why I'd so much rather watch a group of forty year old women behaving badly then watch some attractive people fall fake-in-love, but I'm ok with my obsession. You know who else love the Real Housewives? Tina Fey.

This season, the Bravo producers decided to MIX THINGS UP, and they fired a buncha ladies from the original cast, and brought in three new questionably sane women to revive the show. Enter my newest obsession, Carol Radziwill.

I'm not totally sure how she ended up on the show. She's the kind of person that is actually respected in real life, and her refusal to engage in petty drama is both charming and frustrating on a show that is about women engaging in petty drama. Carol is a former ABC news producer, from back when that meant something. Her show got an Emmy for a piece they did on Cambodia, and she has spent time in Afghanistan and Vietnam doing real, serious news stuff (which I read: see above).

I think this is her in Thailand. Loving the look, Carole!

In Afganistan. See, this is why I wish I had naturally straight hair. When you find yourself in a war zone, you can still look put together.

In her mid twenties, she met Anthony Radziwill, a work colleague, and they fell in love. Around that time, she found out that he was a prince, of Poland, and that he was first cousins with John F. Kennedy Jr., and later, his wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. Very glamorous so far, yes?

Then, and this is all detailed in her book What Remains, Anthony was diagnosed with testicular cancer. She married him shortly after this, well aware of his illness but also optimistic. He died five years later, three weeks after her best friends JFK Jr. and Carolyn died in a plane crash. Unbelievable.

I fell in love with her on the show before I read her book and fully knew her background. What I quickly found out from watching the show is that she is funny, laid-back, has an incredible sense of style, and is able to hit on a man twenty years younger than her at a vintage store, get rejected, and STILL seem like the winner in that exchange. Then, once I knew her whole story, I also admired her for surviving losing the three people closest to her, and writing about it so eloquently.

Well, this picture maybe bugs me a little bit. It's kind of smug.

I also like that the first time you see her, she's a bit scary looking, a little crypt creeper. But after watching her be herself for a few minutes she become so attractive. I always like when less conventionally attractive women are acknowledged as attractive, 'cus we can't all have Grace Kelly style bone structure, y'know?

If you can't tell, this obsession has occasionally veered into borderline unhealthy, but I got it a bit under control by listening to her read her own audio book through Audible.

I think the obsession may wane as we head into the Real Housewives reunion specials-that's the three part episode where the ladies have all finally seen the season and are now aware of all the shit being talked behind backs. The first one just aired and Carole is really getting called to task for that one. Also, she has a new fiction book out called The Widow's Guide to Dating, and I'm sorry, but that I just can't get behind. Still, it's been fun while it's lasted.

You can check out Carole's website here.

Harmless Harvest Coconut Water

Hello! Welcome to my blog: a blog devoted to my brief and numerous obsessions.

I'm the kinda gal that gets super excited about something and then I have to have it constantly, until one day I've had enough, and then I usually stop even wanting it (I swear this habit does not extend to my personal life). This habit has left me grossed out or bored by roasted fennel, the song "Toxic", Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Milky Ways, and many, many other fantastic things. So I wanted to get going with this blog before I got my latest obsessions out of my system, because the things I briefly love really are great, and I want to share them with the world and maybe get you into them too, before I forget them so quickly.

Let me just add before anyone asks, that I am in no way getting paid or receiving gifts to do the posts about any of my obsessions. First of all, nobody knows who I am so it would mean nothing to receive my endorsement, and secondly, that would be super shady and that is not my jam.

Today I wanted to share my absolute LOVE for Harmless Harvest Coconut Water, the only coconut water I have ever drank that actually tastes like the clear kinda gel type stuff I drink when I cut into a young coconut. This shit should make Rihanna and her stupid ad campaign for Vita Coco feel seriously
embarrassed.

In everything but music, Rihanna seems to make consistently bad choices.

Back when I was in high school, my best friend Ryann and I would avoid doing homework after school by stopping in to this raw food organic type place in our little town. The guy that ran the shop was an old hippie, and maybe a bit too excited to hang out with two fifteen year old girls, but regardless, he got us into the amazingness that is a young coconut. A young coconut is a coconut picked before it has time to mature, and it's usually husked before it's sold so when you buy it (you can get it at Whole Foods or Chinatown or sometimes at a boardwalk), you slice off the top, stick in a straw and drink the nectar of the  gods.

This stuff will change your life.

The problem with the disgusting coconut water they've had on the market until now is that they have to heat the liquid inside the coconut in order to sterilize it, which takes away the really great nutrients, but, more importantly, seriously alters the taste. Until now. Harmless Harvest has found a way to put the coconut under intense pressure which sterilizes the water without altering the liquid at all. Look, I'm no scientist, but thanks to the FDA I can trust what it says on the bottle, and I also can trust my taste buds. This stuff is so so so so so good, sometimes it makes me cry a little bit.

Part of the tearing up is that right now the bottles are really expensive. The cheapest I've gotten an 8 oz bottle is $2.00 and I've seen it sold for $3.00. Surprisingly  Whole Foods often has the best sales on it, but part of that is that they can afford to mark it down, where as the mom & pop shops in Brooklyn have to mark it up to meet their rent.

I guess, unless your part of the 1%, you should try to make this a special treat. Like an after work treat, before work treat, midday snack, evening snack, bedtime snack, midday-pick-me-up kinda treat. Just kidding. Really, make it a SPECIAL treat.

But that's really hard, since it's so special and delicious. I can't wait till I'm over this one, and neither can my wallet.

Check out where you can find this elixir at their website.