I have finished watching Season Three. At this point I’m over 90 episodes in. That’s at least 67 hours (not including when they have special hour and a half long episodes). I could spend three straight days of no sleep or breaks and only watching Melrose—For some reason, maybe a pacing problem, it seems like it would take a lot longer than that.

I’m now so far into the show that my sense of timelines and plotlines are becoming blurred. I’m sitting here thinking, “was that Season Two? Or Three?” In part due to the blurriness and in part due to the precedent of avoiding plot spoilers that I set in previous entries, I hope to keep my comments general instead of specific. Though Season Three began with a very Billy/Allison-based cliffhanger, I was very disappointed in the direction that they took this season. Their breakup seems contrived and forced. When I complained to Derrick about it, he said, “It’s like they’re jumping the shark by NOT getting them married already.” I completely agree. I feel strung along by this obviously meant to be romance. I used to root for Billy and Allison. Now I just want them to get it over with. Get together, get married and get off the show.

Season One was saved when Heather Locklear joined the show, so I’m the first to admit that Melrose needs to be spiced up every now and then. I was seriously disappointed that they chose to bring in Brooke, played by Kristin Davis (who many of you now know from Sex in the City), to be the “new Amanda”. When she showed up, I seriously had to take a two week hiatus from watching. I couldn’t stomach how they let a brand new, completely random character, screw up the dynamic. I know that good fiction brings us trouble, but I want to like my bad guys, not hate them. She is spoiled, selfish, and manipulative.

You loyal readers (and Melrose fans) know that Dr. Mancini is always my favorite. This season, we got to watch him fall in love with the most appropriate of women, and even though this romance didn’t turn out the way that I hoped, it was nice to see him go from evil to good to evil again.

Season Three brings addiction, blackmail, Vegas, cults, framing, business (someone we know and love buys Shooters!), baby-stealing, failed romances, attempted murders, and lots of sex. And it ended with the biggest cliffhanger yet. I’m dying to see what happens (hint, AT LEAST one major character is going to be killed off), but I knew I needed to write this up before finding out who bites the dust.

This started out as a smoothie, but it tastes much more like a slushy and has a chunkier consistency. I am calling it autumn slushy, because it is a beautiful deep red color.

Autumn Slushy

3 ice cubes
1 cup apple juice
1 cup no-sugar berry blend (strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry)
1 spoonful honey

Put ingredients in blender, and blend. Enjoy! (But not too quickly, or you might brain freeze).

Makes 2 servings.

I feel horrible and broken about this today, while I’m simultaneously grateful that none of my students were in this car.

From the GCSU student newspaper, The Colonnade:

Four students involved in car accident, two fatalities

Four students were involved in an automobile accident on North Columbia Street in the early morning hours of Sept. 22, according to the Milledgeville Police Department. Two freshmen, Johnny Harof and Alex Delor, were killed.

Freshman Christian Smith was driving a 2004 Mini Cooper on North Columbia Street at the intersection of the railroad tracks near the Goodie Gallery, according to Milledgeville Chief of Police Woodrow Blue.

Smith and Tyler Zecker, who was sitting in the passenger seat, sustained injuries and were taken to Oconee Regional Medical Center and later transported to the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, explained Blue.

“At this time we know they were heading south on North Columbia Street. When the driver crossed over the railroad tracks, he lost control of the vehicle, it went airborne, flipped over a couple of times and ended up striking a tree,” Blue said.

The first responders were on the scene at 12:58 a.m., Blue said.

According to John Gonzalez at the Baldwin County Coroner’s Office, Harof and Delor were pronounced dead at 1:45 a.m. The cause of death was blunt head trauma.

“I hate it,” said Gonzales. “It’s real sad to see young kids. They need to slow down.”

Interim President Stas Preczewski issued a statement to the student body and college community. In the statement he offered “most heart-felt condolences to the family members, friends and associates of our deceased students.” He also said that counselors would be available to “assist any university person or group who wishes assistance.”

SGA President Evan Karanovich expressed the need for unity in this time of tragedy.

“The untimely deaths of Alex and Johnny, our friends and classmates, are difficult,” Karanovich said. “By coming together as family, we can comfort and restore through these difficult times. These two students began their college careers here just a short time ago, but they made a mark as soon as they became part of our George College family.”

“The accident is still under investigation. It will be a couple of days until we complete it,” Blue said.

It is normal for instances of fatality to be under investigation for a period of time, according to Blue.

All four students went to Collins Hill High School in Lawrenceville, Ga. Their families have been notified.

The police report and comments from first responders who were at the scene are still pending.

By Aubrie Sofala and Bobbi Otis

This week we made our first batch of muesli…well, almost muesli. After seeing this video over at Summer Tomato, Derrick and I were both excited about muesli as an alternative to cereal or granola for breakfast.

Unfortunately, since we live in Milledgeville, we were unable to find a 5 grain cereal as recommended in the video. We knew that rolled oats would work, but we wanted the benefits of multiple grains. We found this Kashi 7 Grain Puffs cereal, which tastes like a healthier Rice Krispies. The con of the Puffs would be that we do not have the option of eating this food cold or hot, as with traditional muesli.

We are on our third day of muesli-eatin’. I have had bowls with both almond milk and Smart Balance Milk. The almond milk brings a sweeter flavor to the cereal and complements the nuts.

Almost Muesli

Kashi 7 Whole Grain Puffs
Cashew Halves and Pieces
Almonds (Low Sodium)
Peanuts (Unsalted, Dry Roasted)
Sunflower Kernels
Golden Raisins
Dried Cherries

Mix ingredients together in a big bowl. You’ll know when you’ve got the proportions right. Puffs should be the most used ingredient, and the dried fruit should be the least used. Store in a container to preserve freshness.

When I saw Emily de Vorsay’s entry over at The Sexy Divorcee Cooks For One, I was immediately intrigued. Though I don’t know anything about succotash and I know even less about lima beans, something about this dish (maybe the corn, maybe the tomatoes) stuck out. Because grocery shopping in Milledgeville can be difficult and I wasn’t able to find all of the ingredients, I had to replace some of her ingredients. I also reduced the bacon, because we only had four pieces of bacon in the fridge. Though I made ingredient modifications, I kept Emily’s directions below with only a few adjustments. In reality, the meal took me a little longer to cook because I wasn’t able to thaw the lima beans or corn in time for dinner, but Emily’s instructions (and occasional taste testing) were enough of a guideline to keep me on track.

I served the succotash as a side with veggie burgers and steak fries. The cilantro and lime flavors really worked together. Since we only used the succotash as a side, we have tons leftover, and I imagine we’ll be eating more with both lunch and dinner tomorrow.

Thufferin’ Thuccotash
(or Rachel’s version of Emily’s Summer Succotash)

10 oz bag frozen lima beans, thawed
10 oz bag frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered
1 onion, diced
¼ tsp. garlic powder
4 slices bacon
Juice of one lime
1 tsp. sugar
1 pinch kosher salt
2 dashes pepper
1/4 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

Bring a pot of water to boil on the stove and cook the lima beans until just tender (think “al dente”), about five minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water and set aside.

Meanwhile, combine the lime juice, sugar, salt and pepper and let sit. In a large skillet, cook the bacon until crisp and set aside to drain on a paper towel. Keep the bacon grease in the pan. Cook the onion in the bacon grease until it starts to soften, about a minute. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the corn, tomatoes, and lime-juice mixture. Cook just until the tomatoes begin to lose their firmness. Crumble half the bacon and toss it with the lima beans, and add both to the skillet. Cook until just warmed through and remove from the heat.

Toss with the fresh cilantro and sprinkle the remaining bacon on top.

The following is taken from an email that I just sent to my grandmother in Arizona. About a month ago, she mailed me Crossing the Yard: Thirty Years as a Prison Volunteer by Richard Shelton. I enjoyed this book and definitely think it’s worth reading.

I’ve been familiar with prison writing for some time now, but this book brought me an extensive glance into the prison world. I had some colleagues at NAU who taught classes at the local prison. Here at Georgia College, as part of our Arts & Letters journal staff, I read submissions and I received several from inmates in prison. Though I’ve heard several of my colleagues make offhand remarks about the writing and I never received anything that I deemed worthy of passing up to the Poetry editor, I always made sure to return the original poems (usually handwritten on notebook paper) in the included self-addressed stamp envelope along with the rejection notification. It broke my heart that people would send off their only copy of poems. I’m sure many prisoners don’t receive their work back.

I tried to enroll in the PEN Mentoring Program, serving as an anonymous mentor who corresponds with a prisoner through mail, but they have “enough” volunteers for 2011, and they “may” need more help in 2012. I don’t see how you can ever have too many volunteers, when it seems as though there are many, many prisoners out there who want to write and have others see/critique their writing, but for some reason they’ve got a cap on it.

Read the rest of this entry »

Last night, we watched Nothing But Trouble, a movie that I’d never heard of but Derrick remembered watching as a kid. In Dan Aykroyd’s directorial debut from 1991, Nothing But Trouble stars Chevy Chase, John Candy, Demi Moore, and (of course) Dan Aykroyd, so how could this movie do any wrong? The numbers give the majority’s opinion here. The movie, with an estimated $40 million dollar budget, was a mega-flop, with a gross of only $8 million.

Here is the premise: When city slickers Chevy Chase, Demi Moore, and two friends decide to drive to Atlantic City, one of their pushy tagalongs, played by Taylor Negron (by the way, have you checked out this list???), insists on taking the scenic route. Chevy Chase accidentally rolls through a stop sign, and that is enough of a reason for law enforcement to arrest (or kidnap, really) the group and take them to see the Judge, who imprisons them in his strange home. As the out-of-towners try to escape, they realize that they are caught in a very very twisted web.

Nothing But Trouble is my new favorite movie—seriously, it might even need to be purchased and added to our Halloween line-up this year. But I am the first to admit that this is a movie that didn’t know what it wanted to be. Is it comedy? Is it horror? I think it’s pretty obvious that Aykroyd was a fan of Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, a legendary genre bender. For me, Chevy Chase and John Candy are enough to tip the scales over to comedy land, but there are some scenes—especially those with Demi Moore crying towards the end—which are pretty intense. This movie is lewd and crude in both its humor and murders. The chemistry between the actors is fantastic, and the delivery of lines always amuses and catches the viewer off guard.

In one of my favorite moments, Chase and Moore are running down a hallway, checking doors to see if they can find an escape route. Chase opens one to see a room crammed to the brim with creepy broken baby doll heads. He says, “This must be the nursery,” and immediately continues down the hall without skipping a beat. Of course, it’s the nursery. Awesome.

I know this meal might sound a little ridiculous (Brats are German, not Mexican!), but I used what we had. Ultimately, the bratwurst added a nice flavor to the frittata dish. We ate this with a side of Uncle Ben’s “Santa Fe” Whole Grain Rice Medley mixed with some corn, leftover from yesterday.

Mexican Bratwurst Frittata

1 leftover beer brat
½ large onion, sliced and diced
2 medium sized tomatoes, sliced and diced
Fajita Seasoning blend
Handful Kraft Mexican 4 cheese Mix
4 eggs
½ cup Smart Balance milk
Olive oil
Smart Balance Cooking Spray

Heat olive oil in medium skillet. While it’s preheating, chop up onion and tomatoes. Put them in the skillet and season (I used the fajitas seasoning mix –again, thanks to Ms. Debra & Mr. Stewart—but any Mexican seasonings, like cumin, oregano and parsley, would do). Cook, stirring occasionally, until veggies are tender, about 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop up bratwurst. Also, mix eggs in milk in a small bowl. Spray square casserole pan (my little Fiesta-ware one is about 9 inches) with Smart Balance Cooking Spray

Preheat oven to 350. Put bratwurst in bottom of casserole pan. Pour tomato/onion/seasoning mix on top. Then pour egg/milk mixture on top of that. Sprinkle cheese on top, and put in oven. Bake until the egg is set and the top is golden. For us, that took about 35 minutes, but begin checking at 20.

3 ice cubes
1 banana
1 1/2 cups strawberries
1 cup Santa Cruz Organic Mango Lemonade

Put ingredients in blender, and blend! Makes 2 servings.

3 ice cubes
1 cup sliced peaches
2 bananas
1 cup Santa Cruz Organic Mango Lemonade

Put ingredients in blender, and blend! Makes 2 servings.