Freeloading in the Neighborhood

Hmmmm. The boodlers are a bit slow on the draw this morning. I just thought it would be fun to say I had commented first on both kits. Let the fun begin! (Melvin/a - stop briefing the press and start weighing in!)

bostonreader, I can't speak for everyone else, but I'm really tired this week and don't care much about making my presence known. Anywhere. I'll say something sometimes anyway, but I really don't care whether I weigh in on things this week. I think it's the weather. It's creating feelings of indifference in me. I'm hoping it rains today and cools things down. It looks like it could rain.

I hate tomatoes. I'm okay with them on hamburgers and I'm okay with grape tomatoes on a turkey sandwich. Otherwise, they don't agree with my taste buds.

sara - I'm sorry you're not your usual spunky self. I like your approach to arguments with your husband - laugh, kiss, and say something soothing. I use essentially the same tactics, which result in less stress and more happiness overall.

Oops - forgot to weigh in on tomatoes - love 'em - wish they cost less

Threatening to make sauce of the tomatoes?

Oh, shades of Tracy, Calif., when the convoys of trucks bursting with hundreds, if not thousands, of luscious red, ripe tomatoes would rumble in from all compass directions, along the narrow two-lane highways or rolling at high speeds along the Central Valley interstates.

The Heinz tomato plant would make sauce alright! When the tomato processing plant got cranked up in mid- to late summer, the entire town smelled like a can of tomato soup! I can think of a many other towns where what's in the air is a whole lot worse.

But then Tracy got a huge discount mall on the freeway that ran from the Bay Area to Sacramento. I wonder if the really antiquated Heinz plant still exists and whether they still turn August air--morning, noon, and night--into delicious whiffs of tomato soup, or tomato sauce, or spaghetti sauce, or canned or stewed tomatoes?

Growing tomatoes... I think that's what keeps my 81-year-old dad going in this world: spending the early summer cultivating them, the late summer eating them and the rest of the year dreaming about them.

I love the tomatoes my mom grows. Big, juicy and sunripened, they have a taste like nothing else on earth. My mom has a definite green thumb.

My own thumb is not so green. Its more dried up and brown, kinda dead. I don't really grow things like tomatoes, I ignore them long enough for them to die.

Now can anyone tell me why in these days of plant engineering no one has figured out how to make anything grow as abundantly as weeds, with as little water as weeds seem to need?

Oh, bostonreader, he's not my husband. He popped the question, we never made it down the aisle. He's an ex now. Thanks, though. I always found that approach to nitpicky arguments worked well. Big arguments you can't really smooth over with a laugh and a reminder of a compromise (or something similar to a compromise because I really do enjoy Fox News), but for nitpicky arguments there's nothing better than a laugh and a kiss and something soothing said playfully.

I'm feeling somewhat spunky again. Maybe it's because I had breakfast since I posted that "tired" comment.

"Only two things that money cant buy
That's true love and home grown tomatoes"

I believe that is by John Denver.

Linda - yes, i've been places where the air is quite fragrant - hershey, pa is by far the best - the whole town smells of hot chocolate... northridge, ca smelled of barley b/c of the beer plant and richmond, va smells of - well, paper plants aren't the best smelling things in the world.
as for tomatoes, i LUV 'em! (aren't they a fruit?)... my poor mum - she waited her whole life to buy a house and have a garden in the back - we finally bought a house and she ecstatically went about planting tomatoes and peppers and the damned snarky squirrel ate everything! he even made a show of eating it in front of her! he'd take a bite out of one and decide he didn't like it... she ended up with a handful of tiny little tomatoes... she didn't try growing them this year...

Too bad about the snarky squirrel- fresh tomatoes are truely the best.

When I was younger, late summer meant I'd spend hours eating cherry tomatoes right out of the garden- something about a warm fresh tomato that bursts with juice when you crunch down just says summer.

Man, I miss that. Sadly enough, my boyfriend hates fresh tomatoes with a passion. I had to physically force him to eat of my parents cherry tomatoes, and I'll never forget the look of pure disgust on his face.

Don't get me started on zucchini though... never enough tomatoes, always too much zucchini!

My home grown tomatoes are starting to come in, along with the squash, cucumbers, peppers, and melons.

All this, a bushel of crabs, and some beer.

Eatin's good at the House Of c in August.

bc

My mom would make macaroni and cheese from scratch (well everything but the noodles) and in late summer would add a layer of sliced tomotes fresh from the garden in the middle.

My mom would make macaroni and cheese from scratch (well everything but the noodles) and in late summer would add a layer of sliced tomotes fresh from the garden in the middle.

Take a fresh tomato and a fresh cucumber from the garden, thinly slice. Get good bread, spread on some mayo (sorry, Kim O'Donnell - the mayo is required), sprinkle parmesan over it, add the tomato & cucumber slices - best summer sandwich ever.

m.a.

San Antonio Texas smells like corn tortillas made the old way by old mexican women, pitty pat, patty pit, hands fairly flying. As for tomatoes, I love em homegrown, but the late great Mr. Nani couldn't stand the sight of them; he couldn't stand the mention of them. Once during a little argument when I was in the wrong and he had me dead to rights, I just looked him in the eye and said "Aww, TOMATOES". He never quite forgave me for that.

Tomatoes are for throwing.

Now, I must brief the press.

i used to have tomato sandwiches during when i was a kid (my aunts have no problem with snarky squirrels and tomato growing - they are very good at tomato growing!) it has to be on wonder white bread with mayo, slices of tomato, and salt and pepper... THAT was summer to me! but now-a-days i don't eat white bread or mayo... hmmm... might have to give in...

Pine Bluff, AR smells like a paper plant, and having visited my Grandmother there many times in my youth, I can honestly say that I LOVE that smell.
One summer I house-sat in rural NC and they had a huge garden. I ate warm tomato sandwiches w/ salt, pepper and mayo on white bread every day for lunch, all summer long. It was heavenly. I haven't bought white bread or mayo for years - but if someone would give me today a warm tomato fresh out of the garden, I'd be out buying the fixings faster than you could say "Wonder Bread".

Mo - I didn't even see your comment before I posted mine! I feel that we have a great deal in common now. Please tell me that you like the smell of paper mills.

When the most powerful human being on earth answers questions from reporters, he needs to measure his responses to account for how his words will be misinterpreted by the reporters in their quest for a news angle.

Paper mills- yeuk- we used to have soccer meets in Northern Maine, and the towns stunk!! But the woodchip processing plant, now there's a different story. My frineds and I would roll down the windows in the winter to get a whiff of the piney scent.

Tomatoes are for eating- rotton crab apples are for "apple ball" (variation of stickball)

hah! that's funny bostonreader! i have a feeling that those tomato sandwiches are a southern/country thing... we prolly do have a lot in common! are you in boston now? i went there for my 30th bday - had a GREAT time! as for paper mills - maybe it's because i'm not terribly fond of richmond or b/c their is also a cigarette factory messing with the paper mill smell but i can't say i like the smell of paper mills - maybe it's different in Pine Bluff, AR... i'll have to do a smell comparison... now, chocolate i love the smell of! tho' after a while i do hafta admit it does make me a little quesy...

mo - You reminded me of the other place I lived with a unique smell - Winston-Salem, NC. I was in college, and the first warm, humid day that came along there was this wonderful, cloyingly sweet scent in the air. When I found out it was tobacco I couldn't believe it - it smelled nothing like tobacco smoke. I still love the smell of tobacco plants - even though I hate the product they make! And yes, I'm a new Bostonite - it's a fun place to live (well - in the summer at least, I'll get back to you with an update in mid-January).

another oops - I gave myself away as a newbie by saying "Bostonite" vs "Bostonian".

_Toasted_ white bread, mayo, salt, thick slices of garden tomato - . All we are able to get growing this year are the cherry and grape tomatoes, it's difficult to make sandwiches with those.

Speaking of smells - Harrisonburg, VA in the spring when all the surrounding poultry farms clean out their hen houses after a long winter ... now that's a smell that will make you toss your tomatoes.

Best-smelling town I've been in: Orleans, France, home of Jeanne d'Arc--smells of chocolate and fresh-baked bread, if you stand in the right spot.

Tomatoes - there's a subject I can comment on!

Nothing better than a homegrown tomato - even the small ones I grow here in Seattle. My version of the tomato sandwich is white bread, *cream cheese* (instead of mayo which I don't like except on turkey sammiches), fresh tomato. Yum!

My tomatoes are still green...

more smelly towns come to mind - in baja mexico driving between tijuana and encinada - they burn their garbage - that smell has to be the worst! (on a par with chicken coops cuz i've smelled those too - whew! what a stink!) - and sorrento italy smells of lemons...

bostonreader - i am wierd - i have a wierd taste in food (i don't like peanut butter or hotdogs - how unamerican can i be?) and a wierd taste in smells - i love the smells of cigars and pipes cuz it reminds me of christmas (my uncle used to smoke a pipe during xmas)... but i HATE the smell of orange peels - they give me a headache!

bachAchen:
Ha! What a great handle. (But I do hope your back feels better soon.)

We always knew when the dairy farms began to "spread" [manure] in the spring- its a combination of pungent spice with a sickly sweetness. One whiff and it reminds me of home.

Of course, all this talk on smells reminds me of my college anatomy labs- it took over a day for the smell of formalin to get out of my skin. Particularly on my hands- the combination of latex with lotion always made me want to gag.

Achenfan, your not the only boodler with multiple personalities. hehe.

parasaur - that's like the smell of mulch when they spread it during spring - bleh! and my project manager told me that in korea they still use human uh, manure in the rice paddies!! ACKKKKKKKKK!!!!!

smells in college - i loved the smell of developer in my photography class! i would stay in the darkroom for hours - yes, i was working not just sniffing developer!

clicked "post" before finishing. Actually my back feels fine, but my little piggy hurts cause I wore the wrong shoes today.

Sorry to hear about your achen toe, omnigood. I hope you're not wearing those ugly Cruella DeVil shoes from Needless Markups -- they don't look very comfortable to me.

There are some really unpleasant smells in downtown Portland, OR in the early mornings when the breweries are going hard. Even though the smell is entirely plant-based, there is a certain slaughterhouse hint to it.

Which leads to the worst smelling place that I have ever encoutered: ten miles outside of Amarillo TX on I-40, there is a monstrosity of a cow pen (goes on for about a mile along the highway). To make matters worse, a few miles later you pass by a huge chemical plant. If its a hot summer day and the car has no air-conditioning, then it's a real Sophie's choice. Suffocate or suffocate?

mo...
I would like to visit Hershey, Pa., some day if the town smells like chocolate. The only other Hershey plant is on the West Coast, in Oakdale, Calif. The Heinz plant is in Tracy, in San Joaquin County, but the neighboring county to the east is Stanislaus, and on its far eastern edge is Oakdale, not far too from where the road begins to rise into the foothills that stretch upward into the Sierra Nevada.

Since Stanislaus is one of the biggest dairy counties in California, Hershey found a ready supply for the milk used in its milk chocolate. The county also has numerous almond orchards. Then it simply became a matter of importing the cocoa beans from Central and South Americas, shipped into San Francisco Bay and brought overland by rail.

Of course, the tomato originated in the Americas and is, technically, a fruit. But I don't remember Oakdale smelling like chocolate, per se, which makes me think that the smell of Hershey in Pennsylvania must be heavenly.

Linda - oh it IS it IS! but like i said, smelling the chocolate than eating all the chocolate and STILL smelling the chocolate for hours and hours can make you feel a little quesy (sp?) - like that easter or halloween whoa-is-me-i-ate-too-much-chocolate kinda feeling... it's ok if you don't od on the eating of the chocolate tho'....

Your poor little pinkie-toe. I made the decision years ago to show love to my pinkie-toe by shunning the heel. Now, all I wear is Clarks, Berkenstocks, Tevas, tennis shoes, and the like. Fashionable? No. Sexy? No. Comfy? MMMMMMMMMMHMMMMMMM! (By the way - I despise the shows where they pull someone off the street in order to re-do their hair and wardrobe. Just let me be me!)

Anyone ever driven through Gilroy, California? Garlic-o-rama.

mo - Did you mean to crack us up with the "whoa is me" versus "woe is me"? I have to say that your version also makes a lot of sense!

mo...
I subbed as a Weight Watcher (a Heinz subsidiary, by the way) meeting leader a few times in Oakdale, Calif., and we had some members in Weight Watchers who worked at the Hershey plant. The trouble for them was that Hershey would put out free baskets of candy bars in their breakrooms--so they knew firsthand what it could be like to overdose on the chocolate. When these Hershey plant employees/members would lose pounds each week, I would be so proud of them.

Favorite bumpersticker seen in a diner in Winsted, Conn. (Ralph Nader's hometown): "Lord, please don't lead me into temptation, I can find it easily enough all by myself!"

Never heard of anyone overeating tomatoes, though!

bostonreader - that was a slip - most likely freudian at that!

my mother grew up in Panama and tells me of stories where she would od on mangoes - apparently they are plentiful there - she still eats a ton of mangoes but they are more expensive here so she doesn't od on 'em...

actually i think the "whoa" was a joey from the show Blosson "whoa"... lol

um... that's Blossom not Blosson

No heels for me (at least not in public if you know what I mean). I just made the mistake of wearing old shoes (Rockport) that have never really been broken in. At least at the office can I wear my comfortable slippers.

That last post shouldn't have included bachAchen as only two of my personas for the day were actually speaking.

Achenfan, I've been through Gilroy. It wasn't the most pleasant experience. How would you like to live there? Ick. I guess you wouldn't have to worry about eating garlic on dates. Your date wouldn't know if it was you or the air that smelled.

has anyone in calif ever been to "the stinking rose"? it's a garlic restaurant - i love love love garlic and the food is great but man, you end up stinking for daysssssssssss... since i couldn't smell myself i didn't know but my roommate was nonplussed i can tell you!

Indeed, achentoe. Sometimes when I see the contraptions women strap onto their feet, I almost have to concede that men are smarter than women -- *almost*.

[Sprints from A-blog to avoid wrath of entire female blogging community, heel- and non-heel-wearers alike]

I remember reading "The Good Earth" and the descriptions of the smell of the poor Chinese peasants who practically subsisted on garlic alone.

Irregardless- What you smelled outside Amarillo is called a feed lot. The cattle are confined there for some time before being sent to market. They do nothing but eat and poop, then go off to make burgers. The quantities of manure produced are impressive. Did you happen to see the Cadillac Ranch while you were in the Panhandle? Definitely a folk art landmark. www.libertysoftware.be/cml/cadillacranch/ranch/crabtr.htm

mo-
I ate at the stinking rose when I visited SF- garlic upon garlic upon garlic. with a side of garlic! I was definitely desensitized after the first 20 min. Of course, it might have been because I was ripe to begin with, having been camping several days before...

Now I don't mind the hometown spreading smell, mostly cause I grew up with it (and mucked out quite a few sheep stalls myself). Its a sharp, but sweet smell. Certain types of mulch however _are_ gross- I swear it has the scent of urine, though I'm not sure why.

The Cadillac Ranch. I'd forgotton about that place.

achenfan - i'm with you on footwear for the lasses - i myself wear docs or doc-like shoes (Doc Martens for the unenlightened) that are flat and lace-up man-like shoes - tho the break-in time can be bordering on torture, once broken in they are like walking on air and last years and years and years...
sometimes i see those wild spike heeled contraptions and think i'd like to wear them b/c they can look QUITE sexy-woohoo but i've had several knee surgeries and would be risking limbs - not worth it...
do you men out there actually find them sexy or is it just us estrogen types?

Right on, mo. Maybe men find these shoes sexy until they marry a woman who blows the family budget on shoes. Mind you, my husband likes to tease me for being one of those "women in comfortable shoes" ;)

I think mo's a chameleon... or a mind reader. I've had a few knee surgeries too! :P

But luckily I've managed to get away with black flats and teva sandals. I also have a propensity to walk on my toes, which means great fun for onlookers when I occasionally wear a heel. I don't understand why one would pay exorbitant amounts of money for mini torture devices, even if they're smexy.

I hate shoes. I can't be aware of my feet. Like you, mo, I used to wear Doc Martens until I developed this unnatural discomfort/anxiety whenever I was aware of my feet. The weight and the enclosure that the Doc entails drive me crazy now. I'm strictly a sandal girl. I can wear Converse in winter if there is a lot of snow, otherwise it's some form of sandal almost all year long. In the winter time that means I have to take extra care of my feet, though.

Hmmm - boodlers today are apparently of one mind in regards to "sensible shoes" - we love 'em. What gives? My guess is that there are some lurking heel-lovers out there. Do not fear - we still welcome you to boodle with us. Let's hear some alternative points of view! We don't want to be accused of lacking in diversity!

Oh, I failed to mention that I love heels even though I hate to be aware of my feet. It's a really conflicting sort of thing. Most of the time I opt out, but sometimes I go wild and wear some crazy strappy high heels.

sara - there are a lot of anti-feet ppl out there so don't feel alone. i myself like feet - i'm not enamored with them or have a foot fetish or anything but i like 'em... i have small wide feet - my mother teases me mercilessly saying i have flinstone feet or i walk on stumps b/c they are so small - i don't mind - i like my feet! and parasaur - i am a mind reader and i really don't think you should be thinking that! or that! lol... you walk on your toes? maybe you missed your calling as a ballerina...
and i actually wanna know for real if guys like the smexy shoes!! cuz if they do - well... i might pick up a pair for special occasions! *nudge nudge wink wink*

See, that's what's weird about me, mo. I'm not anti-feet. I love my feet. They're probably one of my favorite body parts because they're small and I keep them pretty. They just can't be enclosed or I get nervous. And if they get hot, I get nervous. It's a really weird feeling that I've developed in recent years.

hmmmm... i can't sleep with sox on... does that count? but that's interesting... i'll bet some of those shrinks out there have something interesting to say about that...

i meant that your feet thing is interesting not that i can't sleep with sox on...

mo...how did you know I was contemplating leaving and doing some work?
re toes, feet etc, I guess "balls of the foot" is more accurate, and if i'm wearing fully enclosed shoes, I will walk flat. but running around barefoot, wearing sandals or the occasional heel, I'll naturally rise up. Apparently it stems from a curved tibia, which throws my center of balance forward. While this does mean killer calves (w/out heels!) its no toe shoes for me any time soon.

I naturally walk toe-heel, so its fun to watch me forget that I'm wearing, as I'll actually trip backwards. I was once accused of "walking like a guy" while trying to walk seductively in heels, so I guess they don't smexify everyone.

I'm with you mo & sara - I like my feet. I got my father's feet actually - small, nice. Now my sister, she got my mother's feet - long and narrow. She has always hated them. Once - and I swear this is true - we went into a shoe store and the salesman said to my sister, "I can't fit those bananas". I was there and I'm telling you that it really happened. I don't know what possessed the guy to say that. That was 30 years ago. I'll have to ask my sister if the memory still stings.

I didn't realize that John Denver also recorded the song "Homegrown Tomatoes." It was, however, written by a marvelous Texas songwriter named Guy Clark. (It isn't often that the phrase 'culinary bummer' appears in a song, so it's gotta be fun.)

Here are the lyrics:

Homegrown Tomatoes - words and lyrics by Guy Clark

Ain't nothin' in the world that I like better
Than bacon & lettuce & homegrown tomatoes
Up in the mornin' out in the garden

Get you a ripe one don't get a hard one
Plant `em in the spring eat `em in the summer
All winter with out `em's a culinary bummer
I forget all about the sweatin' & diggin'
Everytime I go out & pick me a big one

Chorus:

Homegrown tomatoes homegrown tomatoes
What'd life be without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can't buy
That's true love & homegrown tomatoes

You can go out to eat & that's for sure
But it's nothin' a homegrown tomato won't cure
Put `em in a salad, put `em in a stew
You can make your very own tomato juice
Eat `em with eggs, eat `em with gravy
Eat `em with beans, pinto or navy
Put `em on the side, put `em in the middle
Put a homegrown tomato on a hotcake griddle

Repeat chorus

If I's to change this life I lead
I'd be Johnny Tomato Seed
`Cause I know what this country needs
Homegrown tomatoes in every yard you see
When I die don't bury me
In a box in a cemetary
Out in the garden would be much better
I could be pushin' up homegrown tomatoes

Not sure why guys aren't weighting in in this, but I appreciate a nice pair of shoes on a lady; situation appropriate, of course.

There are sandal situations, Converse situations (I'm a Vans guy converted from a Converse guy, myself), and (hopefully) high heel situations.

I pretty much avoid wearing footwear as much as possible. I like feeling the lawn, sand, etc. under my feet.

bc

bc, when it comes to lady's footwear you seem like a sensible, practical, no-nonsense guy. I like that. Once someone referred to me as "low-maintenance", and I took it as a great compliment. Men like you make it easier to lead a happy, low-maintenance life. Carry on.

I'm apparently "low-maintenance" as well. My boyfriend says that my low-maintenance is high-maintenance for him because he's become used to the high-maintenance girls, so he doesn't know how to make the switch. He'll get used to it, though.

bostonreader, I'd say "low-maint" is a compliment, too. Your SO is fortunate.

I wouldn't say I'm a "no-nonsense guy" though. I love good nonsense, when and where appropriate. And carry on, I shall.

bc

Of course, bc, it goes without saying that the "sensible, practical, no-nonsense" statement was in specific reference to your views on footwear. I think I speak for the entire SAO-15 when I say that we are happy that these traits do not spill over into every area - in particular the "boodling" area.
So we are discovering trends here between the women of the SAO-15. Minimal heel wearing. Low-maintenance - at least me and Sara. What about mo? Melvin/a? (I'm betting Melvin/a is high maintenance. First, there's the split personality thing. Second, all of that press briefing has to make you high strung.)

I don't think Melvin/a is a woman. But if Melvin/a is, I'm betting with you, bostonreader.

oh, i'm LOW maintenance alllll the way - i do like a bit of nonsense here and there - like the whole goth thing that apparently scares grtc (don't be scared! i don't bite - much) but makeup and pantyhose and heels? meh! now i do like to get dolled up when i go out clubbing and such but i'm not nearly as much of a partier as i used to be...