I'm an introvert. I make no attempts to portray myself any differently, and don't think I could do so passably even if I wanted.

I like people. But new people, new situations, groups of people – those sort of things are manageable for me, but stressful, and I've maintained a "comfortableness" in my life by avoiding a lot of things that I know would drain me. I think to an outsider (definitely to an extrovert, probably even to many introverts) it would look like I'm sacrificing something, or missing out on something. Maybe.
Maybe not.

Lately I've been having a harder time tuning people out. Conversations around me seem to be getting longer, louder… stupider.

I'm noticing more and more how difficult it is for people to be quiet. I don't understand this compulsion so many people have to talk, without really having anything to say. I know that as a recipient of the noise, I find it hard to concentrate, so I have begun to assume that the source of the noise is relying on their incessant speech as a way to escape having to think, or to distract from an uncomfortable void which a normal person would usually have filled with thoughts.

A couple of days ago I left work early. After a 35 minute period, of which almost 30 of those minutes involved an assault from all directions by nonsense, I had to call it a day.

"Enlightened" cultures value silence and meditation, and see their importance for both mental and spiritual health.
We are so screwed.

It's friggin' annoying, and a bit frightening.

No? Me neither. 😛
But spudart does, and submitted this question:

What’s the all-time record highest temperature for the low in Chicago?

He also submitted it to many "question asking-ish" websites, where no one could sufficiently parse what he was actually asking.

If the question doesn't make sense, maybe explaining how I answered it will shine some light one it:

• Retrieve the historical data for Chicago's daily "Low Temperatures" (I only went back to Jan 1, 1975).
• Sort them and take the HIGHEST value. The HIGHEST Low.
• Done. That's it

If you're curious, here's the post with his question and answer: Chicago’s record “Highest Low” Temperature?

In the past month or so I've gone through 3 bags of Twizzlers.
Even though corn syrup and wheat flour are the main 2 things I'm trying to eliminate from my diet (and the first 2 ingredients in Twizzlers), I've let the craving get the best of me. But for some reason, some sort of nostalgia, I've been craving Red Vines, thinking that the few times I had them as a kid I preferred the flavor.

So I bought a bag.
I guess I was wrong.

I'm not sure how to describe the taste, they're sort of "Twizzlers + yuck". And the texture is almost gritty.

A quick google search leads me to believe that my nostalgia for "Red Vines" was a bit misplaced. I think what I'm remembering are actually "Super Ropes", the bigger whip-like licorice rope that came individually wrapped in crinkly plastic.

But I'm going to end this madness here and simply satisfy my craving with the tried and tested Twizzlers.

Because.

If I can come up with a post for today… this'll be the first full week of posts in like.. years.

There it is!

Egg rolls.

Yum.

Of all the egg rolls I've ever eaten, the best have been from Moy's Restaurant in Elkhorn, WI.
What sets these egg rolls apart from the rest? Peanut butter.
From the description on their menu page:

Small chunks of chopped barbecued pork, shrimp, celery, cabbage and a touch of peanut butter in egg roll wrapper.

I always thought this was an odd thing, even though it works very well, but a quick google search shows just how common it is: over 2 million results for "egg rolls peanut butter", many being recipes or links to restaurants.

(spudart originally asked me to blog about this on 2/29/12)

I'm pretty impatient.
Just about every time I order something from Amazon, 2-3 days later (when I'm still waiting for the box to arrive), I think "I should have signed up for Prime to get the 2-day shipping".
Last month I gave in.

Having both Netflix and Amazon Prime streaming is dangerous (or would be, if I were worried about being productive). There's a lot of overlap between the services, but I've been finding some good stuff on Prime, like Falling Skies… or MacGyver.

I have to admit, MacGyver seems a lot less exciting than I remember it being when I was a kid, but it's still a good watch. Being a show of the 80's though, the theme song is pretty horrible, and drags on… and on. It feels like the intro itself is over a half hour long.

Anyway, I've had that friggin song stuck in my head since Sunday. If you don't know/remember it, and would like to risk it, here's a copy on YouTube:

One of the first things I bought specifically for my new house was a cast-iron skillet. This Lodge 10.25" cast-iron skillet to be exact. That link goes to the Amazon product page, but if you're interested in getting this pan, it's available all over the place. Walmart has it for about the same price as Amazon (about $16) – I got mine from a kitchen outlet store, where it was mislabeled with the 8" skillet price, I think it was $10 or $12.

In the past 2 months I've used it almost exclusively, and have cooked: brats, burgers, steak, bacon, eggs, pancakes, hashbrowns, and probably several more things that I can't think of at the moment.

The hashbrowns were really the only thing that gave me any trouble – they stuck to the pan like crazy – and I think that was because I had no idea how to make hashbrowns from scratch. I definitely didn't get enough of the liquid out of the potatoes after shredding them. I completely dulled the edge of a Farberware spatula (I think they're nylon?) – it just didn't hold up to the severe unsticking I was trying to unleash. That was the motivation needed to purchase this OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Turner. I think it was only a few dollars more than what I paid for the Farberware spatula, but this thing is a perfect match for a cast-iron skillet.

Anyway – pan, spatula, exciting post.

Here's a pic, since spudart asked: