Is It a Globe or a Map: A Model's Brain

You know I love what I do.  I love the diversity of the tasks I have to perform each day, and I love the challenge of everyday being different and never really knowing what to expect because the people I work with are unpredictable.  There is never a dull moment, and while not always, the excitement is usually a lot of fun.  And after all is said and done, we can usually look back on the experience over a few drinks and laugh and laugh.

A conversation I had this afternoon made me feel like was was living an episode of Just Say Julie from over twenty years ago on MTV.  Remember the How To Be a Model episode?  (Google it!  It’s on YouTube.)  I was doing my best to help someone (not a child) understand that a globe was different from a map because one was 3D and the other was 2D.  I truly thought we’d find her brain on the floor resembling a wad of chewing gum after it exploded and shot out of her ear, kind of like the model’s.

I can never undervalue the head massage I receive from my barber after a haircut.  First there is the quasi-massage from the vibration of the clippers on my scalp, and after he finishes with the haircut, the barber really goes to town with his hands.  It is totally a win-win situation for me.  And after the “Model’s Brain” conversation I had this afternoon, I was in need of the stress and tension relief that comes along with the massages.

Since the barber is almost next door to Queen’s Restaurant, I popped in on my walk home for some unripe plantain porridge, or as we called in in Uganda: katogo.  

Perhaps just a bit spicier.

A Real Coffee and Cupcakes Kind of Day

My microwave oven doubles as a convection oven, and until today, I had never used that feature of it.  This Saturday morning seemed like a real coffee and cupcakes kind of day so I had to get the instruction manual out of the bottom draw and read up in order to fire put the oven and have Coffee and Cupcakes ready to open by brunch time.  

I found a fantastic recipe at:  http://www.anniesnoms.com/2013/09/17/back-to-basics-perfect-vanilla-cupcakes/, and got to baking.

I made the icing with probably the worst icing sugar I have had the pleasure (hihi!) to use.  Take note, people who bake in Port Harcourt, this is the guilty culprit.

Beware.  Sure, it is sweet enough, and in the end the icing was pretty good, but the rock-hard clumps of powdered sugar took some work to break up, and the consistency was a bit grittier than I would normally like to work with and made it a bit more difficult to get a smooth and fluffy icing.

After the cakes cooled, I iced those puppies.

The cappuccino was made and and an offering was placed at the Altar of Jessy.  She is a benevolent Queen and has never demanded such, but since I am living in a self-proclaimed colony of her Queendom of Fabulosity, I found it only fitting to do so.  

However, it would have been exponentially more fabulous if I could have offered a cupcake to her in person in my kitchen.  Wishes.

The deliciousness of the cupcakes inspired me.  After inhaling one… ok…ehrm…well…three, I was motivated to finally make my trip to the nearby fitness center and register.  From the look of things, 

my vist was none too soon.  I paid for a year’s membership to motivate me to actually go and get my money’s worth.  I also paid for the gold membership to have access to a personal trainer twice a week and massages twice a month.  Let’s see what happens!!!

Cupcakes Calming Corollary Consequences of Calamity

How do you top off a term of big changes:  planned changes, unplanned changes, sudden changes, changes galore?

You just dropped that bomb!

And then what do you do?

Not just any cupcakes.  Nope.  Cupcakes with the culprit’s face plastered on top of each one if them, an image which can be chomped, swallowed and digested.

When you are not left with many other choices because the situation is really out of your hands, you gotta make ‘em smile.  I have found this to work in many situations, from dealing with corrupt immigration officials at the airport to swaying the appetites of a meeting room full of unhappy lions who have just become hungry for a taste of someone’s blood.

On the topic of blood, I am going to sing the praises of Edward at Cinnamon and Sauces because his red velvet cupcakes are terrific. The are quite possibly the best red velvet cupcakes I have ever eaten.  Yes, I did just write ever.  (Notice I did specify cupcake.  There is no topping Grandma Hatcher's red velvet cake.)  If you are in need of fabulous cupcakes in the Port Harcourt area, give Edward a try!

The Status Quo and Vindaloo Possibilities

Last weekend was one of the most enjoyable and interesting ones I have had since I arrived in this city.  In addition to Thor with friends on Friday, there was the Diwali Mela festivities hosted by the Indian Cultural Association on Saturday night.  That is where

I won a vacuum cleaner, y’all!

Not only that, I rocked up on some pretty tasty Indian food.  How apropos at an even hosted by the Indian Cultural Association, right?  But the truth is, advertising is not at its strongest in Port Harcourt so you have to be in the know, know people who are in the know or accidentally rock up on things of interest.  Well, now I am one of those in the know now about Indian restaurants in Port Harcourt, and thanks to my phone camera, I can share their contact deets with you.

Ok, so I did not deviate far from the status quo with my sucky advertising.  The names of the restaurants were not captured in the photos, but the phone numbers are there, and I think that both restaurants are in the GRA area.  I have not yet visited the restaurants, but I hope to soon.  Judging by the food they served at the festival on Saturday, I’d say they are pretty good, and I look forward to having some more.  However, I’ve been off Indian food for a while.  I used to really love going out for Indian, then all the food tasted sweet to me which put me off.  We'll see how it goes… I could go for a vindaloo.

Mighty God of Thunder

Thor: The Dark World opened in Port Harcourt this week.  Natalie Portman on top of a recommendation from a friend were ultimately what led me to watch the first film in this current franchise.  My reasons for being excited about this week’s premier were:

• the first film was pretty good;
• and my itch to leave my apartment more often needed to be scratched.

I joined a couple of friends for the 5:10pm showing at Genesis Center.  On the plus side, you can have a pre-show drink at the Chinese/pizza restaurant on the ground floor.  On the not-so-plus side, the screen on which Thor was showing was slightly larger than a big screen TV, so it kind of felt like a private viewing room of some celebrity on MTV Cribs, circa 1999.  Not completely a negative.

While Natalie retuned for this installment, and I loved how the skirt of her dress billowed all Melissa-Gilbert-as-Laura-Ingalls like during the running scenes on Asgard, it was one of the Two Broke Girls, Kat Dennings, whose performance that I was most excited to see.  She acted the devil out of her comic relief role in the previous Thor, and she brought chipper light to this one as well.   Kat's intern-with-an-intern character has me looking forward to the Thor film which is sure to come in the next couple of years.

Despite my fondness for the current Thor films, my favourite, absolute favourite Thor related scene in a motion picture is from back in 1987.

Adventures in Babysitting not only sparked my interest in Norse mythology, but it also introduced my pre-pubescent self to Clearasil.  

Happy Walls! Happiness.

The handyman and I have spent hours hanging art together.  He's gotten to know me.  I've gotten to know him.  We are slowly becoming BFFs and our mensies may soon sync up.  Totally.

My walls are happy.

I am happy.

A friend messaged me today and said, “ You are gradually turing your house into a home.”

Yep.

That’s the idea.  I’ve made the commitment.

PH, baby!  PH.

Jumping Out of Cabs

I am really trying to get out of my flat more and more, especially since getting back from Brussels.  Last night, I sent my driver home, invited a friend over, walked down to the street, hailed a cap and went to the cinema at Genesis Center.  And it was a great evening.  We ran into a friend of a friend at the cinema and had pre-show drinks together.  Percy Jackson:  Sea of Monsters was pretty bad, but we laughed and that made the outing worth it in my book.  

It was jumping out of the cab after the ride home and having to scrounge around for change because the driver could not break the larger note that gave me flashbacks of great times of the past and made me associate my present moment with them.  I really loved it.  I loved the fact that I had been out with a friend (simple, but it’s been a while since I’d done that), and I loved the freedom I felt as we roamed around the neighbourhood together.  I guess we can call this progress.  Settling in takes time anywhere, and I guess I am out of practice with it.  Add to that the uncertainty related to security--a reality that cannot be ignored--and you get many evenings alone watching too many episodes of Come Dine with Me in order to vicariously experience dinner parties.  I have quasi-plans to go see Thor this weekend, and then a little cafe with pretty good cappuccino and waffles is scheduled to open in my kitchen on Saturday.  Things are looking up, and life appears to be getting exciting.  

Now, if only I can get the handyman back to finish hanging my art…

In other exciting news:  I think I see a marathon in my future.  I guess I need to figure out how/where/when/with whom to run.

Oh, and Britney released a new song.  Perfume.  

Love it!  It is on repeat.  I should have been hired to advise Britney long ago.  She is now taking the path with her music that I recommended she do twelve years ago.  And E! wants call will. i. am an innovator.  My mind is way ahead of that shit.

A Lucky Streak!

It was a five year old’s birthday today.  I got a plate of food from his party.

Food for five year olds.  I think I love Nigeria.

Notice that the plate contains a what?  

A cupcake.  Yes, the superhero confection might not have been fancy (It was my first experience with edible paper.  Amateur, I know.), but it was super-duper delicious.  Nigeria is literally feeding one of my addictions.  I must admit to being more than pleasantly surprised with the quality of the cupcakes I have been finding around here lately.  It is a very yummy lucky streak, and if I am not careful the belly will get out of control again.

Gym, please!!!

If you notice on the plate of food is a piece of two-layered cake, chocolate and red velvet.  The icing in the middle was not the traditional cream or sour cream icing, but no need to think, “Sad.”  In between the two layers was a peanut-butter icing, and it worked.  It really, really worked.  If my taste buds could have spasmed, they would’ve.  My toes did curl a bit from the unexpected, pleasurable taste sensation.

Who’s the baker?  Who’s the baker?  Sadly (now it’s appropriate to express remorse), the great cakes were not supplied by a cupcake bakery where one can go and just pick up a cake when desired.  However, special orders can be made.  The caterers are called Cinnamon & Sauces, and their contact information can be found following this link.

An Eclipse, You Say?

Well I did not see it here.  And according to what I heard on CNN this morning it will not happen again for 150 years.  “It hardly ever happens.”

Thanks, Ellie!

And thanks total solar eclipse of yesterday (3rd November) for giving me yet another excuse to break out my The Watcher in the Woods dvd.  Again.  It doesn’t take much.

While I was home over the summer I saw Jan ice skating in a James Bond movie.  It’s the one with Grace Jones.

In other local news, I got my ATM card today!!!  It only took a little more than two months, and I have it now.  That opens up so many possibilities for me.  

Getting my ATM card means having to pick it up in person which means going to the bank (in person) which means dealing with bank people.  You  know how I feel about visiting banks.  Bank people are insufferable the world over, whether it be the hag behind the desk in Port St Joe who was too damn stupid and lazy to even try to  figure out how to make an international wire transfer or the bank manager in Kampala who thought she would do me a 'favour' by taking my cash or the woman today who kept insisting that I take a seat when there were no seats left to be taken.  I had to assure her that I would not be sitting in anyone's lap, which brought a good laugh from those who were seated.  I love inspiring laughter, especially when it breaks the tension.

Had to put on my bank face.

Oh, the bank.