Friday Randomness
How is it Friday already? I guess because I did a randomness post on Monday, so it feels like a week has gone by, but clearly not. Whatever. Time for your (sort of) weekly dose of randomness falling from my brain.
I had to laugh when I saw that Monday was Sleepyhead Day in Finland. The idea is that the person who sleeps the latest is therefore the laziest, and will be unproductive for the rest of the year. Does throwing them in the water cure them, or punish them? I’m not sure. This year it would have been me, but since I woke up at 5:03, I didn’t think that was fair. Maya had gotten up a few minutes earlier, and Ted had been up for over an hour with one of those crummy nights of sleep that happen to all of us from time to time.
Maya brought home these beautiful tomatoes from work the other day. A coworker’s parents live in Sacramento, and she brought some of their bounty to share. There are brandywine, black beauties, and black pineapple varieties. We had the big red one (Brandywine?) in a salad that night.
The next night I put the black pineapple one in a frittata, which was delicious. It had a mixture of kale and spinach near the bottom. Delicious. I used my enameled cast iron this time, and while it required some soaking, it was much easier to clean than the regular cast iron.
I was lured in by this video on YouTube to try a new recipe, Crispy Buffalo Ranch Chickpea Tacos. My first thought was, wait, why buffalo ranch in a taco? But the guy doing the cooking is charming and seemed like he knew what he was doing, so I gave it a try. I’d give them a B-. Maya thought they tasted good, but needed more texture, perhaps from chicken or fake chicken. Ted thought they were ok, but had a bit of a chemical taste, which may have been any of the processed ingredients (buffalo wing sauce, ranch dressing, low carb tortillas). I thought they were tasty, just weird. Like my original thought of ‘why would you do that?’ was correct. However, I had doubled the recipe, so there was a lot leftover, and Ted and I both had them for lunch the next day. For some reason I liked them more the second time around. Maybe because I knew what to expect?
Ted and I were talking about credit card hacking (feels like work to him, he has no interest) and he said maybe if he could get AI to do it for him. From that we thought there could be a funny skit where a person finds out about credit card hacking, and asks AI to help them. Of course things go deeply wrong, and the AI opens several credit cards at the same time, and they all require a lot of spending in the first 90 days, so AI goes on a shopping spree in order to hit the required spending limits and maximize the bonuses. Piles of boxes and junk purchased from Facebook ads keep appearing, and the poor sap is panicked about how to pay for all of this crap. We picture Tim Robinson, from The Chair Company, he’s good at absurdist humor.
One day when I was out and about I was killing some time, and put my blog url in the search on my phone, and instead of going to my blog I got this AI summary. Pretty accurate! Have you ever wondered where I came up with the dumb URL, Jellyjules? Well, my first car was a ‘66 VW Bug (candy apple red, with a ragtop), and I named it JellyBug. When I was in HS, my BFF Rosemary had been talking to a girl named Kelly, and turned to me and started to say Jules, and out came Jelly. Everyone had a good laugh, and it was my nickname for a few days. I didn’t love it, it didn’t stick, but I kept it for my car, and then when I was trying to come up with something for my blog (Thinkingabout.com was taken), that’s what I landed upon. Not the best, but there we are.
Ted wanted a pop up card wallet for an anniversary gift. A pop up card wallet is a very thin wallet that only holds cards – maybe 10 or so. So his license, his Insurance card, and credit/debit cars. The little button at the bottom left pushes them all up in a little vertical fan, so it’s easy to get the one you want. He told me he wanted this a few days before our anniversary. I started out shopping local, and went to a local luggage store. They had one option, so I bought it and gave it to him as something to open, but we ended up returning it, it wasn’t what he wanted. We then tried Best Buy, where we found the Ridge wallet, which was closer, but still not right. It had a little ridge (hence the name) in the side to push the cards up, whereas he wanted that button feature. Because of packaging, we couldn’t really tell, so we bought it, tried it, and returned it. Finally, we admitted defeat and went online. We did a little research and found the Ekster Cardholder Pro, which was just what he wanted. It’s very small, and doesn’t take up nearly as much room in his pockets. See my work phone (iPhone 13) above for scale. He’s told me several times in the weeks since our anniversary how much he loves it, so I’m counting it as a total win in the gift department.
34 Comments
Elisabeth
I have a similar wallet and it is THE BEST. I love it. (I inherited it from my husband who has a similar wallet, but it has a little holder for an AirTag.
I haven’t plugged in my url to get an AI summary and now I’m a bit scared to do so! Like, for real. What will is say about me? Also, it feels a bit sad to have it reduced to a few lines. That said, I will admit that I do read the Google AI summaries more and more these days. Sigh.
I would definitely be getting dunked into the sea and I would hate it. I also hate mornings. I really wish I didn’t mind getting up early. I keep hoping that at some point my internal body clock will change and I’ll suddenly spring out of bed, but I don’t see that happening any time soon.
J
I like the wallet and considered getting myself one, but I have so many and the latest card wallet I bought for myself (while looking for this one for Ted) is just a tiny bit bigger and perhaps more my speed. But I definitely thought about it!
Sleepyhead day is hilarious! Today I’m up at almost the exact same time as on Monday, but everyone else is still asleep. I suspect my daughter would be the one getting dunked today (and most days). She’s a real, ‘early to bed, late to rise’ person, and is very protective of her sleep!
Nicole MacPherson
Ha! I love that plant cartoon. I feel like it’s written about Christy and Pippa, who sit on a sill opposite each other. Pippa is stretching out but Christy is extending as well. This makes no sense to anyone without a photo but I’m not deleting this comment.
Sleepyhead Day cracks me up, it would be Rob in every single scenario. I am always up early, Jake works at 5:30 so he’s up by 4:45 at the latest. Mark doesn’t live here so he gets immunity I guess.
Nice job on the gift! I love when a gift really hits – I am not the best gift giver, I am a person who really needs a lot of ideas, so I am impressed at this!
J
The gift thing was definitely a win! It helped that he asked for something specific, and we were both fine with returning items that didn’t work. Sometimes people feel like it’s rude to return a gift, so they either use the item and don’t like it, tuck it away and don’t use it, or give it/throw it away. I’m so glad that we are not that way. Honestly, we sometimes give anniversary gifts, and sometimes we don’t. I’m so glad that he loves this wallet though!
LOL about Christy and Pippa. The struggle is real!
Jenny
Hmm! Actually, those chickpea tacos sound really good. I can see how they would need some texture though, like as is they’d be too creamy. I’m trying to think what I could add, without using even more processed ingredients. Maybe some air fried tofu? I’m going to play around with this and get back to you.
Hee hee… my husband would have been dunked in the sea today. I got up early to run, and my daughter got up early because on Fridays she and her friends go to the bins store, like a big secondhand shop where they restock on Fridays and everything is $12. It’s funny that they’re willing to get up super early to go stand in line so they can be among the first into the store, where on other days they’ll sleep till noon. Ah, teenagers.
I like that we got a bonus photo of Mulder, but what about the cats? I guess we got a good dose of them on Wednesday : )
J
I wonder if you roasted some of the chickpeas? That would give it texture. Maybe I mashed mine too much. LOL about your daughter, yes, it’s all priorities, right?
I forgot to mention that the little orange kitten who liked to nurse his bed was adopted! I was a little sad about it on Wednesday, I wanted to cuddle him!
StephLove
It’s always satisfying when you get a gift just right.
Those tomatoes look excellent.
Any day Noah doesn’t work he’d be the Sleepyhead. But after years of being the first one up, my retiree wife would occassionally get thrown in the sea.
I do like knowing the origin of your blog title. I started mine when North was a baby and I almost named it “Cradle and All,” thinking it would be about having a baby and everything else in my life, but when I stopped to think about it, I realized it wouldn’t age well. When I was considering using aliases for the kids, I briefly considered “The Adventures of Bear and Bug” based on family nicknames. But I went a line from “Bicycle Built for Two,” thinking it might evoke the words just before (“I’m half crazy, all for the love of you,”) becaue that seemed apt for parenting small kids, but not in as obvious a way as “Cradle and All.”
J
When I came up with Jellyjules, I certainly didn’t think of longevity! Who knew I’d be doing this 20+ years later! HA! I like your URL, it’s perfect.
AC
I carry my usual cards in my wallet, but I just use the app now unless something goes wrong. Where would one carry cash with just that wallet? Or maybe one wouldn’t. I have cash in my wallet for months that I haven’t used.
J
I forgot to mention, there’s a little strap around the outside where you can put bills. It’s tight so they don’t get away. There’s no place for coins.
I use my app for almost all transactions too. I have one credit card that I use at restaurants and the drug store that I use the physical card for some reason. Maybe I should add it to my phone wallet?
PocoBrat
Thanks for so kindly explaining the cartoon to me :)!
Those tomatoes are all such beauties! As is that surprise picture of Mulder <3).
I would never lose on sleepyhead day, Jules, and neither should you or anyone who wakes up at 5:03!
J
It’s just so ridiculous that I was the sleepyhead at 5:03! The outrage!
Margaret
I thought you just liked jelly! I’m always interested to find out how people come up with their URLs and blog titles. You taunt me with your delicious frittatas! I’ve been on an egg kick lately, mostly omelets though. I don’t want to know what my cholesterol numbers are. 🙁 My ex-boyfriend was a huge fan of brandywines although our short growing season makes them tough to bring to ripeness. He had an extensive garden and knew more what he was doing than I do/did.
J
We have a longer growing season, but no sunshine in our yard. At least not enough to grow anything. Just enough direct sun when it’s hot to kill things. It’s a very specific yard.
Have you read the studies that say eggs don’t affect your cholesterol as much as they used to think?
DB Stewart
After visiting Scotland in June, I tried a new recipe too: Scottish oatcakes…let’s just say less than satisfying, but it has potential, so I’ll be tweaking it.
Also, I tried your blog search to view what AI says about mine…uh, fail. An example: “You may be thinking of culinary sites like ThinkBeef or lifestyle and food blogs featuring comforting recipes.” Ha. Thanks for the laugh.
J
I suspect that my very specific url helped AI get my blog vs anything else that might be similar, because there really isn’t anything similar.
Lisa's Yarns
5:03 and the last person up? YIKES FACE. Is Maya usually up that early? She must be quite a lark! I am nearly always the first person up in my house. I am never ever ever ever the last. Phil is usually the last person up on both weekends and week days. He is not necessarily the last person to wake up, but he is the last to get out of bed. But it takes him very little time to get ready for the day/eat breakfast. The boys, especially Will, are such dawdlers so they need to get up earlier to make sure we are out the door on time.
Those tomatoes look amazing!!!
J
Maya gets up at about 5 on days when she has to go in to the city for work. She is NOT a lark, she loves to sleep, so it’s hard for her. But she goes to bed super early.
Phil likes to laze in bed a bit? Ted is the same way. He has always been happy to lay in bed for half an hour. Once I’m awake, I’m awake. The only time in my life that I enjoyed lazing in bed in the morning was those early days with Ted, staying up until 1 or 2, sleeping until 9 or 10, lazing for another hour…
Michelle G.
I’m delighted to know how your blog got its name! The AI summary is so good, it’s a little freaky. Those tomatoes look wonderful, and how nice to have found the perfect wallet for Ted.
J
I doubt most blogs get such a specific AI summary. It’s my weird URL.
Birchie
Does AI know you or does AI know you! LIke Elisabeth, I’m a bit scared to see it summarize me, so I don’t think I will be doing this exercize.
I still haven’t figured out what to call my blog, so the ol’ working title has stuck.
TGIF!
J
I like your original title! Keep it! I’ve kept mine since moving it from blogger to wordpress in 2006. The first one was worse.
Gigi
I’m always interested to know how people come up with their blog’s names. Mine is rather pedestrian. I started my blog on a whim, not knowing I’d still be at it (albeitly, rarely these days) all these years later. I went with an old nickname my husband gave me years ago (and never uses now) and figured I’d just ramble on and see where it took me.
I love it when you can find EXACTLY what you are looking for. I generally can’t, because I am very specific about certain things; and generally, they haven’t been invented yet.
J
I suspect that the reason we got the perfect gift was because of specific desires that, admittedly, HAD been invented. LOL.
nance
I absolutely can picture you in your red ragtop VW. What an awesome first car!
Those tomatoes are gorgeous, and I can well imagine how they taste. I seriously love tomatoes; nothing with them in it can ever have too many tomatoes. Still, nothing is quite so disappointing as a bad tomato, even a lousy apple or peach.
Your fritattas always look fantastic.
J
That was the BEST first car! I loved that car. Not a good fit for San Francisco though (mostly because having a car at all in SF was a pain in the ass, but also the first or second week I was there, someone cut through the ragtop, seemingly just for fun, as nothing was amiss inside.) When the engine died in the middle of the Altamont Pass when I was going home to visit my mom, I considered buying a new car (I was SO WEALTHY making $9.50 an hour!) but ultimately didn’t. Good decision for lots of reasons.
Mmmm. Tomatoes are the absolute best. And a bad tomato is just…blah. Though I feel like a mediocre tomato can be helped with salad dressing or time in the oven, whereas a mediocre apricot is just wasted potential and makes me so, so sad.
Diane
I love buffalo-ed food, so I’m intrigued by the recipe – though I’m not a huge fan of ranch in things. But a crispy buffalo something taco *dipped* in ranch or blue cheese sounds tasty.
The pop up wallet is really cool – I did wonder about how Ted carries cash, but then I read your reply to AC above. I’ve always wondered how people with super thin wallets carry cash. Or maybe no one carries cash anymore? I myself do and it does make my wallet thicker than I want. I mean a few $20s, fine, but a wad of $1 bills after going to the farmer’s market…. That just is a lot to wrangle.
I love your blog name story – I love all name stories, to be honest. I wonder how I’ll feel about my blog name after I’ve been blogging for twenty years.
J
I hadn’t thought about the wad of 1s after a Farmer’s Market run, and for a moment thought I might make some money off of that scenario, because he would give them to ME. Upon thinking it through, however, I realized that we do the FM differently, even when we are together. I get cash ahead of time, he just uses his card everywhere.
I think you might enjoy the recipe, give it a try!
Stephany
Welp, now I need to go see my AI overview to see who Google thinks I am. And maybe also do it for my podcast. It would be sad if I couldn’t even get an AI overview for that, haha.
That wallet looks so cool! I need to look into one of those.
J
It’s a very cool wallet, just for cards and maybe a bit of paper money. I kind of want one now, but doubt I will get one. I have a lot of wallets already, is what I’m saying.
Mark T. Petruska
I was up at 4:55 this morning, so it’s gratifying to know that–in your house, at least–I wouldn’t have ended up flailing about in a large body of water. Whew.
A lot of foods taste better the next day. Maybe the flavors just needed time to blend together!
J
You would have been the second one up! Today though, I think you might have gone in the water. I was (again) the last one up, at about 5:20.
Daria
I am happy to share that I the owner of two new cookbooks, plant-based. The Moosewood cookbook, a classic, based on recipes from Moosewood restaurant upstate New York. Another is from Love and lemons blog except’s it a cook book. I have made a mean Minestrone the other day- delicious! I have had the IDEA of going plant-based as much as I can for a long time. And this year will be my “learning to cook” year.
J
We have a Moosewood cookbook, though it’s not the one you showed on your blog. Mine is called Sundays at Moosewood. If I remember correctly, there is a very good vegetable soup recipe in it that I haven’t made in years. It has interesting spices, and I remember it having both tomatoes and green beans.