Post 100!

"It's been a bit too long since I've written"...and thus, with those words, probably the most likely words that I've started out with throughout the majority of my first 100 posts, will also start post #100! Man a lot has happened since I started writing the Architecture and Football (original name) blog....the obligatory first 'real' post, my first architecture school jury inclusion, we hit water, I took a serious look at my two favorite cities, we lost another competition, Roeder got the sack, we did some life changin', we went to Japan, Big Sam got the sack, King Kev got the job, I got a new keyboard, Brett went on vacation, Newcastle almost got relegated, I started writing about food (and drink), Newcastle DIDN'T get relegated, we ate well and I got scared, and, last, and certainly least, King Kev left Newcastle.

That's just a sampler platter of some of the witty, awe-inspiring, death defying bloggery that's happened over the past couple years on this glorious, glorious, glorious, glorious blog.

It has been glorious.

That's since I started the blog. But since I last wrote....not much has been all that glorious. King Kev is still gone. Newcastle lost to Hull. Hull. The fervent Geordie supporters displayed the passion that's written their page in football lore, and protested like they've never protested before, and for once, they got exactly what they wanted and fatty-boom-blatty Mike Ashley has decided to put the club up for sale. Unfortunately, seeing the mess that the fans are capable of putting an owner in, no other billionaires have the sudden urge to jump into our electric eel tank of a club, big surprise as that may be. So now, we've got no coach, no owner, no passion, our players are biting each others heads off - and oh yeah, did I mention we lost to Hull?

Enough about Football. Jeez, 4/5 of this blog has been about footy. On to a bit of food.

Let me let all you readers in on a couple of culinary secrets that I've picked up over the years. I don't often do this, but I'm going to give you clues into the good life without a fair and balanced exchange of goods OR services. I'm just going to straight up throw it at you. Two of em. Pen and paper ready.

1) Add grapes to salad. Green ones. Serious - then, use a vinaigrette dressing (I recommend shoyu flavored Del Pietro dressing) and sprinkle just a bit of cheese on that mutha. It'll change your pathetic little salad-eating life. (Oh, also - if fresh dill is within 4 miles of your house, get it in that salad! Don't ask - just do it.)

2) When you make an egg omelet, there are two secrets. 1)Add milk to your egg mixture. This is easy - not all that secret. Just a bit though - don't overdo it. 2) start with high temperature as your pour in your egg/milk mixture. after it hardens a bit, pull the edges towards the center at 4 points, letting some loose egg replace its spot against the pan. This will give some depth and wrinkle to the outside. Then, as you add your additives (I'm not giving you this secret) LOWER THE HEAT. Very low. cook the rest on low, and before it's totally hardened, fold that biyatch in half, turn off the heat, and let it cook itself, creating a seal. This will leave your omelet just a bit wet, but cooked all the way through.

Usually I just give restaurants to go to. But this is one from the old Architecture Football and Food cookbook. Mrs. Architecturefootballandfood has many more recipes, but that's for another day.

And last but not least, for the architecture tip.

This is on a personal note. We've stopped all progression of the bathroom remodel. This is for the simple reason that we've decided that we eventually WILL want to move out of this condo - and hopefully rent it out while we build our own place somewhere on the North Side. So, instead of throwing money in to a design that will almost surely not get an adequate return, we've readjusted our attention to paying as little money as possible to add enough real estate "pop" to our place, like adding mosaic tile to our kitchen backsplash. HGTV says to do so, and who are we to question HGTV? We're also testing our interior design skills by buying really cheap furniture (mainly from Ikea) but using it in really inventive ways to make a super-modern palace for Mr. and Mrs. Architecturefootballandfood. It's kickin' like Van Damme did in his most enjoyable dream sequences, and hopefully it'll get us a pretty penny once we show this sucka on the market.

Please visit this website. It's cool.

I don't want to get into anything to overtly political, since it's not in the title, but please just let me say this: If John McCain and Sarah Palin (SARAH PALIN??? SARAH PALIN!!!) win the presidency over Barack Obama and Joseph Biden, I will think VERY, VERY hard about moving to Japan once and for all. This is a more obvious choice for president than I've ever personally seen, and it's gotten to the point now where listing reasons why isn't only long-winded and almost boring in its clarity, but it seems to almost weaken the argument, because after a certain number of points, it sounds like whining. It's weird.

That's all I'm going to say about that. Because if I say any more, I'll most certainly be accused of being sexist.

I want to thank all the readers who have stuck with me through these horrible, horrible first 100 posts. I'd like to say that the quality of my writing will get better, but after this long without any noticeable difference, its safe to say that this is the muck that you're stuck with. Enjoy the next 100.