Sangria & Super Commercials

If there was a flavor that took me immediately back to the highest point of my life, it would have to be Sangria from Dominick's in Ann Arbor.  Annie and I decided to look up recipe clones and try one for the Super Bowl party we were going to yesterday.  It turned out really well.

Well, better than well.  I started drinking at about 11am.  The only thing I had eaten by the time Annie drove us over to the party, was a roll of Ritz and a few gummy tummies from TJs.  But I had drank almost 1/2 L of the homemade Sangria.  I was a hot mess, and it was like 2pm.  No better way to pregame for the Super Bowl, right?

I've recently heard that the new cool thing to do is just learn proportions instead of recipes.  Then, you can make as much or as little as you want.  So I'll do that and let you know exactly what I used.  It's not perfect, but it is so damn close that I'll never try another recipe.  Dominick's Sangria everywhere I go now!!

1 part Brandy.  I used Christian Brothers Very Smooth.
3 parts Cranberry Schnapps.  I used Dekuyper.
6 parts Concord grape wine.  I used Prodigy, a local Kentucky wine.
16 parts cheap, Red table Wine.  I used Riunite Lambrusco Emilia.
Sliced up citrus fruits.  We used 2 limes, 1 lemon, 2 naval oranges, and one cara cara orange.

So, if you use 4 cups of red table wine, then you would use 1/4 cup of brandy, and so on.  Typically you're thinking about wine in terms of bottles or liters.  Did I mention how perfect it was?!  Thank you so much swirlspice!

Aside from the Sangria, we brought the same guacamole and Asian Zing Ritz from last year's Super Bowl party.  I was rooting for the Patriots.  They lost.  I spent most of the time playing board games anyway.  That being said, here are my top 3 Super Bowl XLVI (2012) commercials in order:

 1. Naked M&Ms

 2. Dog gettin' swol'

 3. Clint Eastwood's shoutout to Detroit.  I own a 2007 Dodge Caliber, my grandpa works for Chrysler, and I know all kinds of people in the auto industry who've been struggling, so this hit home.

 Hope your Super Bowl Sunday was filled with food and friends, and slightly blurry,
~RoB

Mosquitoes

A few weeks ago, what must be the fattest mosquito in Northern California tormented me throughout the night. I could hear him buzzing around.  And he bit me.  I covered myself up to my chin (fat people can't cover their faces with blankets cuz they'll die of overheating).  Yet, it still wouldn't leave me alone.  I feel like I was up for hours, shaking the blankets near my face so that it would leave me alone.  So, I got up and stomped out of the room to go sleep in the drafty living room.  It woke Annie up, to which she just looked at me.  I responded to her odd look with, "fucking mosquito won't leave me alone!"  And I went and slept on our couch.

The next morning, Annie asked me what happened.  It turns out that my actions didn't seem as put together as I though they were.

I saw:  a frustrated ~RoB making a logical decision to move to a portion of the house where the breeze would keep the torturous mosquito away from me.

Annie saw:  a sleep-drunkened, senseless boy stammering off into the hallway mumbling something about mosquitoes?

She thought I dreamt the whole thing.  The mosquito didn't bother her at all.  They never do.  They're always more interested in the sweet nectar that is my blood.  They annoyed the hell out of me everywhere in Michigan. One even went so far as to suck on my fresh tattoo.  Little fuckers.

These weren't the only notable mosquito mishaps in recent memory.  One actually embarrassed Annie.

We're at the Michigan Men's Soccer game at their fancy, new stadium in south Ann Arbor.  We snuck in with ancient MCards, and we sat adjacent to the student section.  Within a few minutes, Annie's jaw dropped as Stu Douglass and Tim Hardaway, Jr and some other stars from the Michigan Men's Basketball team showed up and sat a section over from us.  We were trying to enjoy the game when a mosquito decided he wanted to play 'tough guy' and start annoying the hell out of me.  So I kept trying to kill it.

I saw:  an annoyed ~RoB slapping at an evil mosquito in an attempt to kill it before he bites me, makes me itchy, and forces me to scratch myself until I'm bleeding.

Annie saw:  a mentally underdeveloped boy celebrating his trip to the soccer match through slow, sporadic applause.

Actually, who knows what Annie saw.  It's possible she understood.  However, she could also see that the MBB team was sitting right beside us.  She grabbed my upper, right arm, looked into my eyes, and in all seriousness said, "Stop.  You look special."  It's very possible that, at that moment, I could have looked really special.  It made me laugh.  Hard.

So, yeah.  Mosquitoes can go to hell.

Apparently, it's bug week here at ~RoB-ing the Line,
~RoB

Halloween Costumes

'round these parts, Halloween is a big deal.  By here, I mean Annie and I.  Not that we're big drag queens looking for the excuse to dress like a chick, get our nails done, put on our Womens' size 14 platforms, and paint the town.  Not that at all... not anymore at least.  That was so middle school / high school / couple of weekends in college...

Anyway, Halloween has been pretty fun since going to college (these photos really need no captions):

Most fitting costume I'll ever wear. Should've said 'Nozzle'.

Obligatory college toga costume.

My eyes are up here.

Yes, I'm in roller skates. (I have a scar.)

And Annie and I have done a pretty good job at couples costumes:

I could only find a pic at a bad part in the night...

At the end of last year, Annie came up with a brilliant idea for this year.  If we pull it off, it'll be quite fucking awesome.  Mostly because I look so much like the male-role in a famous cartoon couple.  I'll leave your mind to wander until I announce what we chose with pictures in early November.

The problem?  We've got high expectations.  You've got high expectations.  Wherever we go will have high expectations.  We've been trying to land the role as 'that couple' during Halloween festivities over the years, and our performance will have to be stellar.  How are we going to pull this off in the one free weekend we have between now and Halloween?

We've tried to make our costumes or find things at thrift shops that work (more Annie than I).  I think this is the first year where it would be totally possible for me to put my ensemble together without buying the professional costume, it'll just take a lot of work.  And some sewing.  I'm not very familiar with either of these concepts.

I hope we live up to my expectations, and that'll mean that you'll enjoy the costumes,
~RoB

P.S. Annie would be upset if I didn't tell this story.  Up toward the top you'll see a picture of me in shorty-shorts and roller skates.  While rollin' with my homies around Ann Arbor, some guy at a bar yelled something to the extent of "Dude, that chick's on skates."  This was responded to with "Dude, that chick's a dude."  She hasn't let that drop yet.  Not the first time I was mistaken for a lady.

P.S.S. The first time I was mistaken for a lady:  I literally did dress as a girl for Halloween for a few years in middle school.  The last time was probably 8th grade.  My cousin and I showed up to a lady's porch and yelled "Trick or Treat".  She came out with candy (best holiday ever).  She then went on to ask me what I was supposed to be.  In the deepest voice that I was able to muster at the time, I said, "a girl".  In almost a shriek, she replied, "Dear Jesus!"  I must've been pulling it off quite well.  I got almost two handfuls of confused adults by the time the night was over.

~RoB Rides Ann Arbor

At one point in Ann Arbor, I had this dream of taking pictures of me 'riding' all of the statues I could find.  I was even planning on including fountains (though I was going to climb on them after they were turned off for the season, and combine it with a picture of them running to make it look like I rode them while they were going).  Anyway, in my head, the series of photos were called "Rob Rides Ann Arbor".  In my laziness, I never got around to doing it, but I still think it was a great idea.  So, picture me on top off all of these, in all of my glory:

It all started because I really wanted to get on this one!

This lil' guy was #2 on my to-ride list.

Even you, puma.  Even you.

Anybody not ride the cube while in Ann Arbor?

Though I failed, Angel managed to pull off a photo sequence of his own, entitled Angel In The City.

Clockwise starting on the left, Angel gets his picture with the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower, the Bay Bridge, the Ferry Building & Financial District, and from the top of Twin Peaks.

Isn't he cute? 

He did most of the trip with his mother while I was getting my hair cut.  I usually don't support the awkwardness of being crazy dog parents.  However, does this make up for him biting people at family gatherings?  Did I even tell you about how he bites people at family functions?
~RoB

Annob's Drunken Books

Annie and I have long discussed the small business we intend to open when we get older (or when we can't stand being engineers anymore).  It will be a used book store, with a wine bar in the back.  We're going to call it Annob's Drunken Books.  I'm not positive that the word Drunken can be in the name of a store that sells alcohol, but we're going to try real hard.  (The word Annob is described here.)

We have most of it planned out: I'll be in charge of wine.  Annie is going to be in charge of cheese plates at the wine bar.  She'll most likely run the finances and pricing for the store (we think she might get an MBA in the future), but we'll make most of the decisions together.  We want a screen that we can roll down and project onto for hosting Michigan Football parties.  We'd like to have some maize and blue photographs/paintings, but we'd also like to have a local artist use our wall-space as a gallery for selling their art.  We'll each have sections of books that we choose/specialize in (I'm a Fantasy/ Sci-Fi guy).

There are a few things that we still haven't agreed upon: I want the bar in the back, but Annie pictures a circular bar in the center.  We also have no fucking idea where we are going to open it.  (We don't really know where we'll settle down.  Ann Arbor?)

This week, we've hit a snag with our plans.  What if people don't read paper books anymore?  It sounds ridiculous, but is it that ridiculous?  We've debated that books are more timeless than items like records, since you don't need any special equipment to read them.  People still buy records, regardless.  However, our generation, in general, is really into the next big techie thing.  What if people have no interest in paper books in the future?

It's kind of mind blowing to think about.  At least, for those of us that still read regularly.

Forever reading paper books (please don't let me sell out),
~RoB