A short time ago I lifted my jaw off the floor after being informed that my car needs $2300 in repairs. Given my continuing gasping and silence, I suspect parts of my jaw have gone missing from the impact of it dropping.

And damn, I just put new tires on her not 2500 miles ago which begs the question - why didn't they notice I needed new four new struts and springs? (Pulls out tinfoil cranium adornment and impishly wonders if they sabotaged them hoping for the repair job!)

The AP is reporting that Tnoy Snow has given his two weeks notice.  His last day is September 14.

This is almost a GBCW diary but it isn't. Instead, it's a diary about life aka that little annoyance that keeps TU status at bay. Like it or not, I'm not going anywhere - at least not tonight.

Oh sure, you can surmise I'm just whining about TUs and trolls and TU abuse and earned vs. unearned TRs.  But nooooooo, I'm whining about how TU status is definitely and inherently tied to the quality of your life.

Follow me for a tale that will have absolutely no impact on the quality of your life - real or imagined.  

Just a few minutes ago the phone rang and woke me from a deep slumber upon the couch. Upon the first twinkle of light hitting my sleepy eyes, I realized the light at 6pm ET is precisely like the light at 620am ET.  That detail is important because while I searched out my phone from a pocket hidden in an unseen denim jacket, I thought I had slept through the night and overslept my insanely evil 5am shift start time at a fancy television network 60 miles away in NYC. I did that a few weeks ago in the middle of the move and since no one staffs my little part of the world overnights on weekend, there were many people very unhappy with me. So, while I frantically searched for the tolling phone and I thought I had done it again, I was also trying to think how I would explain getting fired from my job just a week after moving into a new home and signing a mortgage. But hey, at least a lot of shit is still packed up.

Sure I can pinch hit What's for Dinner, I told Kate and Runs With Scissors (formerly known as someone else). I've certainly bailed a bunch of times and they've filled in for me so yes, I would be honored, I said.

And that was the last I thought about it for the week until about 10 minutes ago it seems like. No problem I thought, most of them are spontaneous for me and put together the afternoon they are published when it's my turn. I suspect that deadline flirtation is the result of working in the television news business for 15 years - the one thing I can say with certainty after all those years is that 6pm comes at the same time every day. So here I am facing that 6pm deadline without a damn idea what to write about. My stomach is growling; I keep looking in the pantry to see if anything palatable has moved in since the last time I looked about 15 minutes ago, ditto for opening the refrigerator. Nothing it seems is going to satiate my need for food or my need for a topic this evening for dinner.

(author's note: It's an early dinner tonight. Pull up a seat, grab a beer and make yourself right at home.)

I have a confession to make.

In my pantry are spices that are 6 years old.  I know this because the package is dated and I know exactly where I purchased them - The Dekalb Farmers Market in Decatur, GA. I still lived there when I bought that curry powder and other flavor enhancers and when I moved, the plastic containers came along with me.

I'm currently packing up again and in doing so, took a good look at the contents of my pantry. Some of the stuff hasn't been opened for years. Curry powder? I can't stand the stuff and for the life of me have no clue why I would have purchased it in the first place. Dried spearmint?  Why o' why did I buy that? Maybe it was for tabouli. Ground nutmeg? Maybe I was planning to smoke it because nutmeg loses it's flavor approximately 3.9 seconds after being ground up. Other spices should generally be replaced after no more than a year. They do lose their taste and pungency after a while. By coincidence, that became clear the other day when I made my favorite spicy shrimp and it seemed to be lacking in something taste wise.

You aren't really going to eat that, are you?

Come'on, admit it - in the secret recesses of your life you indulge in something that the vast majority of the free world would be generally grossed out upon. A few months ago, I stumbled upon some program airing in the middle of the night where they were eating rotten salmon. It's an Eskimo delicacy I learned. By the time they were savoring a repast of crunchy fried eyeballs, I had seen enough. Now, there is what I think is a new series featuring some guy travelling around and eating foods that most of us would declare gross. I've only seen it once and don't recall that he was eating anything all that gross, but that's probably because I have probably enjoyed it myself at some point.

Tools, tools, and more tools.  

No matter what you are making in your kitchen, you need the proper tools to get it done. Without them, the fun of cheffing becomes a tiresome chore.

So, what are your must-haves in your kitchen? What can't you live without?

Over the course of my foodie lifetime, I’ve picked up all sorts of tools and gadgets for my kitchen. Some of them I can’t live without and others I forget I own them until the time comes to pack them up and move them into a new kitchen. I’ll be doing that again soon into a kitchen I suspect was designed by a fellow foodie. It’s not the biggest kitchen in the world but the layout and design is superb and it was one of the selling points for us (well, me anyways as I do most of the cooking).  With a new kitchen, it is likely I’ll want to get some new things to outfit it with to supplement the things I currently can’t live without.

Dear Andrew,

You made it to 72 years old before you were violently ripped from us.

You escaped disease and misfortune with your health to live a life in which you found joy in simple things. On the fateful day, you simply got off the bus so that you could help a friend in a wheelchair that you saw stuck in the snow. You lived your life happy only to have your head bashed at the age of 72 for being gay.

In what may be a first, the NJ Supreme Court has ruled that the state's Law Against Discrimination also covers bullying in schools, and in particular, the bullying of students based upon their sexual orientation whether actual or perceived. Ruling 7-0, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in L.W. vs. Toms River Regional Schools Board of Education(pdf). L.W. was a 4th grader when he was first taunted with anti-gay epitaths.

The harassment eased up for a couple years and then resumed in high school.  By this time, the actions of the bullys had escalated into physical attacks on L.W.  L.W. eventually withdrew from high school.

A terrible case of writers block for me today and of course, I have big shoes to fill seeing as Kate Petersen and Cookiebear both made the rec list with their WFD editions the past couple of weeks.  I’ll do my best to uphold that bar they’ve raised on our weekly repast fest.

I was planning on doing recipes for the pooches and pooties of our lives but the book that was to inspire me is not at my house right now. It's a lame excuse but it's pretty damn cold there and there was no way I was getting out of my comfy clothes to go fetch it. Hopefully I'll get to that edition sooner rather than later.

Instead, it's comfort food because I've been feeling kind of stressed lately and needy.

Being that it's a holiday weekend and this diarist has a party to attend shortly, What's for Dinner is being posted outside of its regular time slot of dinner. This week it's more like What's For Late Lunch. And as often happens on lazy days, the indecision about food is staggering. Right now I am staring alternately into my pantry and then my refrigerator. I'm going back and forth between the two hoping that something will magically appear that grabs my interest.

The hostess of the party asked everyone bring a favorite dessert or appetizer to share. If it was summer, I would bring tabouli; I always bring tabouli to every gathering. My kick ass tabouli that always results in several requests for the recipe. It's a dish that doesn't work in the winter; it is built upon garden fresh vegetables and filling it with orangish-red cardboard masquerading as tomatoes just doesn't do it for me. Plus, I've been surviving on leftovers and other splurge foods bought before Christmas and don't feel much like cooking or chopping again just yet.

The year-end bonuses are coming in fat and heavy this year - the 6th year of the most corporate friendly administration since records have been kept.

Over at Goldman-Sachs, the holidays will be replete with gold and and diamonds.  Bonuses there are averaging $600,000 and the highest paid performers will see as much as $100 million extra in their check before Father Time flips us into 2007.

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice aka Yule Tide - what does each have in common beyond the time of year and weather?  

Food and drink, of course!

And tonight's What's for Dinner is all about the comforts that sate our belly as we celebrate the winter holidays in the ways that mean the most to us and ours. No matter what we celebrate - whether one of them or all of them as some families are apt to do. Some of the seven symbols and principals of Kwanzaa may include food items and menus with choices which include an emphasis on winter root vegetables and greens -  sweet potato candy anyone? Solstice celebrations usually include fruitcakes and mulled cider. What's hanukkah with latkes and brisket?  And Christmas - I am guessing the menues merge only at the cookie bin.

Drugs got you down?

How about gangs?

Maybe both have you down where you live in?

Any queer people there?

In a perfect world, a neighborhood is not unlike a cohesive neighborhood working towards the common good. Okay, so maybe I am naive in this matter but I still believe it takes a village.

There is a special offer for lonely NJ residents in the tip jar.

What's for Dinner is a collaboration between Kate Petersen, Cookiebear, and myself. It is a selection of what we are making for our friends and families this holiday. Please share your how your family celebrates and your own menu with recipe for others to enjoy.

Grab a glass of wine or your favorite beverage and please share your own traditions and recipes. Today's diary is a long one as it is a "family" meal but we think you will enjoy.

Recommend too!

Almost one year ago I did a diary about whether democrats would willingly have sex with republicans. Given the events of the past month or so and the new "outness" of many a republican, I'm wondering if anything has changed.

There was a poll and the results of the 610 people who took a moment to click was as follows:

Soup.

The mere sound or mention of the word conjores up images of a blustery day. While it hasn't yet turned  blustery in New Jersey yet this fall, our first freeze a couple weeks back propelled me into the my wintery world of soup creations. Beyond the joys of fresh veggies from the summer garden, soup may qualify as one of my all time favorite foods both to eat and prepare.