Accordion to me ...

In the early morning hours of Sunday, fueled by plenty of drinks and a hot swell of karaoke singing, I picked up an accordion and magically knew not only 1) how to play it; but 2) I wrote a fantastic 15-minute long song that even rhymed.

Unfortunately, I've forgotten most of it, so I probably won't recognize it when some Swedish pop duo adopts it as their own.

As for the rest of last week:



THE FOODS



Arugula and Prosciutto Pizza: I got this one from Eating Well magazine. Sauteed onions and prosciutto, topped with part skim mozzarella, baked for like 10 minutes. Then topped with arugula and tomatoes. It was amazing.



Huevos Rancheros Verdes: Also from this month's Eating Well magazine. This one is pinto beans, green salsa and cheddar baked for 10 minutes on top of tortillas, topped with an egg, and a mix of greens including romaine lettuce, cilantro, lime juice and scallions. This tasted like it should be so evil, but really it's not. [Excuse my crappy eggs. Not my strength.]


NO BOOKITY
Talk Talk By TC Boyle: he “chase-scene-as-plot-structure” can be an exhausting thing. The chaos, the misunderstandings, the almosts, and coincidences. It can all decompose into a sloppy, cartoonish stink, racing to finish the book instead of reading and enjoying the tension and feeling the characters’ burdens.

Typically, I consider this the lazy writing of an author with a to-do list — a wacky hijinks quota.

Talk Talk by TC Boyle is a welcomed exception.

It opens with Dana Hartley, a deaf woman who is late for a dentist appointment. She gets pulled over by a cop after a tap-n-go at a stop sign, and is arrested for a litany of crimes: bad checks, auto theft, assault with a deadly weapon. After a weekend in county jail that forever changes her opinion of the common drunk, she learns that her identity has been stolen. The police have no plans to help her. It’s not a bloody crime, but it is a waste of resources. Dana and her boyfriend, a slightly-younger computer graphics guy, try to hunt down the thief.

Full review here.


MOVIES
Shiver 2008: This Spanish horror film was terrifying. A kid with a sunlight allergy moves to a small, dark town and people begin dying in excellent ways that usually start with severing the Achilles tendon.

Screams are the universal language.

Blackout 2007: This, on the other hand, does nothing to dispel the reputation of horror fans as hokey. Starring the mayor from The Wire, and two other lesser-known actors, as people stuck in an elevator in an empty building. One has asthma and the water bottle; one has a broken leg and a bad attitude. One has a dead body in his apartment.

Seriously gross. Seriously bad. Pretty entertaining.