Friday Flops

Isn't it the worst when things don't live up to the expectation you have in your mind? Like when you're picturing how cute you'll look in an outfit and when you're getting dressed and look in the mirror, you realize the jeans aren't as flattering as you remembered and the shirt is hanging all wrong. It's even worse than if you had just thrown the outfit on in a hurry, b/c you've been planning the ensemble in your head and it immediately falls flat.

I'm totally guilty of this; I build these crazy expectations in my mind that outfits/events/recipes can never live up to. That's probably why I like Clark Griswold so much; we both set impossible standards and feign indignation when we're called on it. Parties, weddings, anniversaries...you get the picture. (if you don't recognize this from National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, you need to go watch it immediately. Christmas is over, but seeing an asshole in his bathrobe, emptying a chemical toilet into Clark's sewer is timeless)

You can imagine my disappointment when these absurd expectations aren't met; I'm righteously outraged and will complain to anyone who will listen. Since I'm trying to complain less, I'll just do a quick vent about it here. Blog venting isn't complaining, everyone knows that. 

Falling Down the Stairs
This was an actual flop, as I literally fell down the stairs. I've walked down our hardwood stairs in socks plenty of times, but yesterday I went tumbling down the final few. The landing caught me, and my lower back took the brunt of it. Since I just got over a bout of excruciating tailbone pain, this sucked even more than my usual trips and scrapes.  

Instant Pot Tomato Soup
I love Juli and this won't deter me from continuing to read and recreate her recipes, but this one was a major flop. Maybe it's because I don't have an instant pot and blended everything in my blender? I doubt it. It tasted like I was eating tomato sauce. I ended up using it as a sauce for pasta dishes, so it wasn't a total waste, but definitely not what I was looking for.

Talking to Strangers

I really enjoy Malcolm Gladwell's books and was excited to finally get this one in from the long hold queue at the library. He certainly did his research, but I just couldn't get behind some of the generalizations of this book. Minorities are mistreated by police officers not because of the systemic racism in this country, but b/c they're strangers and strangers make incorrect assumptions about each other. Colleagues of pedophiles shouldn't beat themselves up when a scandal unfolds b/c even though they thought something was off about Jerry Sandusky, he seemed like a nice guy and no one wants to make waves. Overall, a bit of a flop. 

Now that the venting is done, let's enjoy the weekend! It's a balmy 13 degrees in Boston today, so I think we're in for a good one.