New Movie

Stay tuned for the latest movie sponsered by Nabisco and Frito Lay:

Snacks on a Plane

Possible taglines:

Not your average bag of nuts

Hunger in the sky!

Mother bleeping snacks on a mother bleeping plane!

Snakes on a Plane!!!!

If you click here, Samuel L. Jackson will call the person of your choice and leave a special personlized message for that individual. He'll call your old boss, your neighbor, your mother, or have him leave a message for you!

Does anyone else think this guy should have gotten his own movie? Perhaps a spin-off flick?

Also curious, why doesn't Ben Affleck do Aflac commercials? Seems like he would make a killing... You know you want it.

Fun Things To Do in New York --> FRO YO!!

There are so many reasons to love this great city. We are more educated, we are all staying single longer, and you can’t walk 10 steps without being able to purchase food on the street. This place really is a slice of heaven. While there are lots of fun things to do in Shangri La, I would like to point out a few activities one can do to make the day-to-day experiences here even FUNNER!

1) On the subway, enter the train with something absolutely delicious. Right now, I like to use a big bowl of Fro-Yo with crumbled oreo topping. Walk on and flaunt it in front of everyone. Smile as you are spooning heaven into your pie hole. Then sit back and enjoy the covert stares as the people secretly covet your delicious dessert. When it gets colder, I plan on doing this with a bucket of fried chicken.
2) On the street, if you want to see if someone is checking you out as you walk by, just look in the glass building in front of you. You can see their reflection and can catch them staring at your derrière as you saunter by. A variation on this can be performed on the subway. Stare into the black glass and spy on everyone around you.
3) Ok, I actually only had 2 things I wanted to share. But if you have any other Only in NYC tips, please drop me a note in the Comments. Holla back, Ya’ll!

Melts In Your Mouth

Am still mashing food with my tongue by squishing it into a paste by pressing it onto the roof of my mouth… Not exactly appetizing but I recommend trying it. It completely enhances the sensory experience we know commonly as taste. I think perhaps because your tongue is more actively engaged with the food thus allowing for the flavors to run over the taste-buds more frequently than with chewing. It made me realize that I don’t often stop to actually taste my food. I’m usually in a hurry to chew-chew-chew and swallow. It also made me realize there are a lot of things you can eat without really have to chew. For example: udon noodle soup, cereal bars, salmon on rye, chocolate chip cookies, raisin bran, broccoli to name a few items. Unfortunately, no gobstobbers or jawbreakers for a while…

No more Jabber-Jaw...

I'm very unhappy and pained to report that my TMJ attack is in full flare up mode. What does this mean, exactly? Well, for starters, see post below and click on link to learn more about the condition. I cannot open or close my mouth properly at the moment because my jaw muscles are in some weird stress cramp. Not full-out lock jaw, but almost. Worst part - I can't chew. Anything. I just consumed a cheese sandwich (on brown Wonder with Kraft singles) by taking off little bites with my front teeth (I knew they were good for something) and mushing it around in my mouth with saliva till it was soft enough to swallow. It was an entirely different experiencing a sandwich this way. It wouldn't be so awful but it's pretty painful and not being able to open or close my mouth properly just sort of sucks. Guess it's soup for a while...

OUCH!

Why is it always something?? My TMJ is bugging the $hit out of me today!

Best weekend Ever!

Remember the days when I wasn’t getting my paper? It was being stolen b/c my apartment is near a bus stop and me and my lazy @$$ used to not emerge from Casa De Mozo till about 8am. By then, the paper thieves had long read my WSJ from cover to cover. I decided to get the NYT instead and I’m happy to report that I get it every morning. Perhaps this is because I’m getting out of bed at 6:30 instead of 8am so I can go workout with my personal trainer. Yes, you heard right, Moze is getting her butt kicked into shape by a personal trainer. Stay tuned.

My jambalaya eat-off was a spicy success. I started off with steak and cheese taquitos as apps and then doled out bowls of mushy, spicy, ricey, goodness to X-tina (aka Crystal), Kurtje, Eric and Elisa. Fun was had by all especially after channeling Keith Richards. Zain has been a bit of a nay-sayer when it comes to dinner parties but I think he’ll find himself pleasantly surprised after being introduced to my culinary genius…

Made a new friend over the weekend – New York City is a small world people. This young woman and I discovered a rather strange set of coincidences that culminated in us having dated the same individual and knowing another in common. While I’m a firm believer in karma being a bitch, I feel the need to remind all of you to play nice with others – as you never know who and where you are going to run into. Word travels fast here in NYC and as this upcoming ABC series illustrates, everybody knows everybody... People LOVE to talk.

Mozo Is Cooking Up Trouble In Brooklyn

There’s trouble stewing in Brooklyn and it’s the kind everyone will want to dip their wooden spoon into. Literally. As part of my new game-plan (for those of you slow on the uptake, read post below), I have been cooking up a storm in Brooklyn and things are only going to get better. For those of you who know me, right after I finished graduate school, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life so I locked myself in my apartment – blinds drawn – and watched episode after episode of Rachel Ray’s 30 minute meals. This did nothing for my then expanding waistline but I got pretty good at cooking. That fun ended upon moving to New York where I’ve since spent the past 2 years in bars obsessing over boys and drinking beer*. Coming out of my 2 year alcohol infused sabbatical, I have decided to get back behind the stove and fire it up.

So here is what I am proposing. As many of you know, there is a recent influx of individuals moving to the NYC area. I am going to start having boozy Sunday football watching events @ Casa De Mozo. I’m thinking lots of beer, and tons of food while watching a bunch of guys slam into one another while throwing around a pig skin.

Here are several theme/menu ideas for various Sundays (or alternative Saturdays) for this upcoming fall:

Finger Food Theme:
Spicy Hot Wings
Nachos
7 Layer bean dip
King Ranch Casserole
Chicken strips

Mexican Theme:
Fajitas (chicken, beef, and portabello)
Guac dip
Fresh Pico de gallo
Tacos

Italian Theme:
White chicken lasagna
Lasagna Bolognese
Eggplant Parm
Minestrone
Salad
Garlic knots


These themes can also be applied to dinner parties, etc. I’m not married to doing this on a weekend. In any case, I’m proclaiming that fall/end of summer is the season of the dinner party and I plan on taking this season by storm. In fact, I’m making paella for KurtjeC this Saturday! Ambitious.


* Don’t say you can’t find yourself at the bottom of a pint glass in a dive bar on the Lower East Side, I promise you, it can be done.

She Rants

I had an epiphany over the weekend. Consider it something of a liberation. I am taking myself off the dating treadmill. Indefinitely. I’ve just had ENOUGH. Here are my reasons why – or should I say, why not:

- Since when did people in relationships stop talking to one another? When did burgeoning relationships become all about TEXT message, e-mail and IM? What happened to a good, old-fashioned phone call? Are we all really THAT busy? I would argue NOT. Personally, I think it’s just an easy way to keep from getting fully involved, and thus allowing ourselves the easy-out lest we feel we might get hurt.
- Secondly, whatever happened to dinner and a movie? Why is it always “Let’s meet for drinks?” I’m not talking first date here, I’m talking 3 dates in. If, after 2 dates you are still unsure you can share a meal with this person, then either A – you have mental problems or B – you only want to sleep with your date.
- The fade-out. This is probably my biggest gripe. Instead of saying the words, “I no longer want to see you.” I’ve often been on the receiving end of a “fade-out.” This is where the individual simply stops communicating with you. Slowly at first, and then, radio silence. This is incorrigible behavior. It’s immature and cowardly. Grow up people – how hard is it to say, “I don’t want to see you anymore?”
- Cheating – I’m a little on the fence on this one. It is what it is, I suppose. Just don’t let your partner know. If a tree falls in the forest and there is nobody around to hear it fall, did it make any noise on the way down? I think not.
- Finally, I bring you my favorite relationship gripe: BAGGAGE. I used to think I didn’t have any. I traveled light. However, after becoming somewhat irreparably damaged by my 2 ½ year dating stint in New York, I realize that my trunk is just as big as many New Yorkers’ schlepping their issues around. For this I would like to thank all you New Yorkers – thanks for unloading on me! I’m happy to be a pack-rat like the rest of you!

I have cancelled my online dating subscription – for the 3rd and final time. And have vowed to do the following:

- Start going to the library more.
- Start going to the gym more.
- Cook more often
- Perhaps even host a dinner party.
- Go shopping more.
- Decorate my apartment
- Visit museums
- Figure out what I want to do with my life…

So there you have it. This is the current state of affairs (or should I say, lack thereof) for Mozo. Gentleman, don’t come a knockin’… Move on to the next please. I’ll be busy reading Nietzsche and mastering Rachel Ray’s 30 minute meals while burning calories on the (non-dating) treadmill.

Over and Out