Tap dance won't save the world.

Sexy girl penguins make me uncomfortable.

I Just Got Jumbled

I don't think there's anything wrong with jumbling yourself in front of somebody. What's jumbling except bundling for the non-Amish anyway? It's not like it has to mean anything. Sometimes it is nice to do it with other people too though. There's so many of those little wooden jumbles, it's good to be able to spread the responsibility around.

# of Frames: 12

Rumspringa: Or, How I Lost My Hair But Kept My Pride

"Would you rather be a Mormon or an Amish?"  - Schmatie

Did you know Iowa City is deep in the honey pot of both? We weren't that interested in building handcarts and walking to Utah but the Amish had cheese curds, cheap herbs, and butter powder to sell to us.

Just as long as you keep your hands out of their meat jar. The Amish don't play that. Unless of course it's during Rumspringa, the Amish spring break. Then anything goes; hand in the meat jar, meth addiction, bed courtship, even buttons are kosher during Rumspringa. The Devil's Playground left us with a lot of unaswered questions (where does a rebelious Amish teenager get a car from?) and a lot of pride in our post-8th grade educations. Which is exactly what the Amish are worried about in the first place.

After a day full of prideful activities, we had some penace to do.

To atone for my normal day-to-day vainglory (see above) I let two Natural Nnackers -in-training have a go at my hair,  which had been fast on its way towards feathered coif status. Now it comes in Pony-Hawk or Yoder Bowl options.

I also realized that I'd been wearing button-fly jeans all day:

Katie finally gave into her deepest desires and pulled the trigger on the Snuggies purchase. Which, as it turns out, is actually Amish approved loungewear.

Then of course there was Joanna and her gaudy triple-dessert birthday Pastry Duel. What better way to piss off those pacifist Amish than to host a duel with 3 entrants? And look how proud she is of that mud filled profiterole too. She might as well have put up a lightning rod.

Meanwhile, I was busy matching my tie and sweater to the cupcakes. My profiteroles might look like shit but I can still make a v-neck look good, even without any "fancy" cardigan buttons.

 

Then there's Nick's pie; its blueberries all fattened up and juicey. If that's not prideful I don't know what is.

Happy birthday Joanna.

Happy Birthday from wbarnebey on Vimeo.

Someone's in the kitchen with Whitney

Today's Jobonga's birthday. Here I am doing the dishes while I whip up some birthday profiteroles for the rumored Iowa City Pastry Duel taking place later tonight.

You've seen this sweater before, but not since last year. Although it's impossible to tell from this picture it's actually a blue and white stripe, which makes me feel like either a sailor or a frenchie when I wear it.


# of Frames: 15

Everyone's a Little OCD

At least I don't need to do the calculations to satisfy myself.

Sm'ked H'ck'ry

I got back from 12 days in California Monday. Madison was nice enough to welcome me home with some light snow, 10° weather, and a bag still stuck in Minneapolis for the night. Luckily, what Madison did not have waiting for me was an Original Hick'ry Pit. That fact is currently my favorite thing about this city.

David and I made the unfortunate decision to walk into this elided crap-basket Sunday night because we were moderately curious about what was going on in there. We should have known better. If its Bayside color scheme wasn't a big enough tip-off, the single digit dinner crowd should have been. This restaurant is not recommended for anyone who likes meat, vegetables, non-downtrodden ambiance, or who has not successfully completed a course in Algebra I. Before I tell you about our "dinning"experience, I'd like to share some reviews I've found on the interwebs with you:

The Campbell Reporter, 1999

That quote needs to be flipped and reversed, Missy Elliot style.

Next up we've got Bobby U. Despite his endearing photo and charming tagline he's an idiot. That food comes so quick because it doesn't take long to open up a can and dump it onto some poor John's plate. And who thinks that wood smoked meat soup sounds good anyway? I'm mostly sorry for his family. 

Angela L.- there's nothing crowded, or tender, in that place except for that waitress's surprisingly well-kept stern end. 

Yes, Nichole W., that dried out pork loin and salmon hued tri-tip... if only the portions were larger.

And now for some good news:

That James C., is exactly what we said.

The Huntington Beach Sway

Huntington Beach Sway from wbarnebey on Vimeo.


The Sway spreads to the sunny beaches of Southern California.

Primetime on the Scrabble Board

Things had been going so well. Then Joanna fogot what she was doing and played LINTS, which ruined everything. She feels really bad about it. I'm advocating we turn it into a Multiples of 13 game to maintain our prime number status.

Cribshitter, Cribshitter!

If you haven't seen me wear this t-shirt before you must not know me very well. This is its 2nd visit to California but I think its first visit to the Pacific coast. What a jumentous occasion!

A New Year; A Gaggle of New Sweaters

The Barnebey's convened in Huntington Beach, CA for Christmas this year. And by Christmas, we mean New Years. Taylor couldn't leave his new post at Total Wines during the year's biggest week of liquor sales, so we came to him. Afterwords. By yesterday, we still hadn't gotten around to opening the pile of presents sitting in the living room. I was informed that it was important for me to open a couple of mine though. It being Thursday. News Years Sweater Thursday!

Here I am modeling a new winter themed brown half-zip sweater picked out by my mother. I think everybody was suprised by exactly how awesome this sweater is. Then there's that argyle number hanging onto Roxy and I. It came from Evan, and didn't even begin to coidinate with Roxy's gift. A nice fitted plaid button down.

This realization caused the crowd to goad me into putting them both on, with a stripped tie. Here that is, with my new winter sweater and our homemade demi-glace. Have you ever made your own demi-glace? It's a process. First you have to make your stock. Then your Espagnole, and that's not one of the Mother Sauces for nothing. Finally, you get your demi-glace. Don't worry, it's worth the day you spend making it.

Here we all our on our rooftop deck on New Year's Eve. In 1 minute this blue v-neck will become the first sweater of Sweater Thursday 2009.

And finally, after dinner all 14 of us gathered in our sweaters for a family photo. Don't we look insulated?

For Leigha

Two Barnebey Brothers shotgunning Coors Light, one drinking a glass of wine (he was legally obligated to drink a full drink of something, à la Barnebey Brother Rule II, § iv).

Notice the time stamps. It may be PST, but it totally counts.