10 Spanish phrases that don't translate well

1. A otro perro con ese hueso.
   To another dog with that bone.
   (You're putting me on.)
2. Antes que te cases mira lo que haces.
   Before you marry, look at what you do.
   (Look before you leap.)
3. Cada quien tiene su manera de matar pulgas.
   Everyone has their own way to kill fleas.
   (There's more than one way to skin a cat.)
4. Como el burro que tocó la flauta.
   As the burro plays the flute.
   (By pure luck.)
5. Salir de Guatemala y meterse en guatapeor.
   To leave Guatemala and arrive in worse cornstalks.
   (Out of the frying pan and into the fire.)
6. El hijo de la gata, ratones mata.
   The son of the cat kills mice.
   (Like father, like son.)
7. Entrada de caballo, salida de burro.
   Enter on horseback, leave on a donkey.
   (Don't start something you can't finish.)
8. Tener más lana que un borrego.
   To have more wool than a lamb.
   (To have money to burn.)
9. Yo tengo una tía que toca la guitarra.
   I have an aunt that plays the guitar.
   (What's that got to do with the price of tea in China?)
10. Ir a donde el rey va solo.
    To go where the king goes alone.
    (To powder one's nose.)

2009 tomatoes

Most of this year's tomatoes are now in.
Planted

• Sungold


• Matt's Wild Cherry


• Valencia


• Brandywine


• Bloody butcher


• Early girl


• Viva italia


• Orange banana (heirloom orange roma)

Still to go

• Micro tom


• Sun sugar


• Sweet million


• Galina's cherry


• San Marzano roma

Also planted

• Swallow eggplant


• orange pepper whose name escapes me at the moment


• Yellow scallopini squash (a.k.a. pattypan)


• Maxibel french filet beans


• Marina di Chioggia pumpkin

2008 tomatoes

Posting this now, mostly so I don't lose it. Last year was a dismal year for tomatoes. I didn't even keep any notes. But I reconstructed something of what I had when the excitement of spring gripped us around here:

From the collection of Megan's standbys

• Jaune Flammee: Didn't produce a whole lot, and what it did produce was good but not *wow*. Not on my list of must-haves.


• Taxi: Tasty, fun 'cuz they're yellow and round and smooth. Will probably grow again.


• Isis candy: I don't remember anything in particular about this one.


• Urbikany: I found a tiny slip of paper last night that had the words "Urbikany" and "Patio" with two smiley faces. So I guess these are grow-agains.


• Patio: Also had the note that this tasted like a "real tomato".

Experiments

• Red currant: excellent. Maybe not quite as good as Matt's Wild Cherry, but close.


• Beam's yellow pear: Good. Regular yellow pear.


• Riesenstrauβe: Cherry tomato that's slightly larger than Matt's Wild Cherry if I recall correctly, but quite tasty.


• Mortgage Lifter: Big disappointment. There's no paying off your house with this tomato in the Northwest. I don't think I got a single one. :(

My standbys

• Matt's Wild Cherry: It will be a very sad tomato year that does not include these.


• Sungold: You know. I don't even have to say it. Candy on a vine.


• Brandywine: must have. They don't produce a lot of fruit, and they're big so it's always iffy, but if you can get even one good one, it's worth it.


• Valencia: these didn't do as well last year, but they were so fabulous in 2007 that I will absolutely try them again.

Movie: Rachel Getting Married

Was it good? I don't know. They say it was, but I will never know. Why? Because it nauseated me. I've complained about herky-jerky movies before. Not a big fan of "flash editing" and not a big fan of hand-held camera work either. On this one it looks like they hired someone's nephew to follow the actors around with a video camera. Whatsamatta? Over budget? Going for that documentary feel for no apparent reason?

Wasting time with the Facebook quizzes

• I was Pablo Picasso in a past life
• I'm Rowlf from the Muppet Show
• My real age is 34
• I'll have one kid - a girl
• I'm Sinead O'Connor
• I'm Frenchy from Grease
• I'm Oscar the Grouch
• I'm Hamlet
• I should marry Johnny Depp
• I'm Alice in Wonderland
• I'm Dartmouth College (yay!)
• I'm a warm and loving wife

Isn't this all fascinating?

The setup

Finally set up the sewing table in my office a couple weeks ago. And what do you know, I'm using it! I've made considerable progress on Bonnie Hunter's Old Tobacco Road. No predicting when or if I'll ever finish, but it sure is nice not to have to put anything away.

Kick gas

After our usual happy hour stop on Wednesday, I went back to the parking garage and right next to me was this Tesla. I guess if you're going to see one in the wild anywhere, Bellevue is among the most likely places to spot one.

The license plate frame says "Electric cars kick gas".

Read all about these cool electric cars at http://www.teslamotors.com/.

Match winner!

From Noel's Match Report 2/28/2009:

Erica came and ate the boys' lunches again. Nine points and 15 Xs ahead of second. She is the second two time "Custodian of the Cosmic Cuspidor."

The kind of embarassing part? I haven't laid one finger on that gun or any other gun since the last time I won the bench rest match at Capitol City in October. Today I shot against 16 men, many of whom have shot their whole lives, and shoot all the time. Like nearly every day.

I don't want to say this out loud, but I know there are really two main contributors to the wins:

1. Bill set me up with an amazingly accurate gun (FWB p70) and lets me use all the best gear
2. I mostly have no idea what I'm doing. Seriously. Whereas all the other guys know what the gun is doing and the behavior of various kinds of pellets, and try to figure out trajectory and all kinds of other stuff, I just load a pellet, look through the scope, and pull the trigger. My mind is pretty clear.

There's probably a modicum of natural ability there, sure, I'll admit that's possible. And women tend to be really good shooters. I have a couple theories about this too:

1. Women are less competitive. I might get some guff for saying that, because of course there are lots and lots of competitive women, and I have been known to be one on occasion. Maybe it's just that when it's me shooting against a bunch of guys, I don't obsess with every shot that I have to beat the guys. It's a fun bonus, but I don't feel the need. As a result, I'm pretty calm when I shoot.
2. Women benefit from the extra layer of fat they naturally have. When you look at a target through a high powered scope, you can see the crosshairs jump every time your heart beats. My theory is that the extra layer of fat provides a little insulation between the blood rushing through your veins and the stock of the gun, and so the gun simply moves less while we pull the trigger. Of course I've never been a man and therefore can't see what a man sees through the scope, so this might be totally crazy.

Whatever the case....match winner!