Because it embarrasses me to have a bitchy post at the top of my blog, I’m going to post a recipe or two.  I got a request to post recipes more often at Denny’s family party last weekend, so I’ll do my best to oblige.

I made a quick, fresh, delicious salsa last night.  It’s kind of pico de gallo style–raw, with lots of juicy tomato chunks.  It was really easy and took like 10 minutes.  I think I like it better than the cooked salsa I made last year.  I don’t know if it would freeze well or not; I may have to find out, because I don’t think we’re going to get through all of it in the next few days.

Basic Fresh Salsa 

Ingredients:

4 medium tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
1/2 large yellow onion
1 jalapeño pepper (or more if you like it really hot)
1 handful cilantro, finely chopped (down to about 1/4 or 1/3 cup)
salt and pepper to taste
a splash of balsamic vinegar

Method:

1. Peel the garlic and cut the jalapeño into large-ish chunks.  You may want to start with half a jalapeño and add more if it’s not spicy enough.  Spin them in the food processor until they’re finely chopped.  Peel the onion and cut it into large chunks.  Add it to the food processor and give it a spin until it’s fairly fine, but not a paste.
2. Core the tomatoes and give them a squeeze over the garbage disposal or compost collector to squash out some of the seeds and the wateriest parts.  Cut two of them into large chunks and add them, along with the cilantro, to the food processor and give it a whirl.  Let it get pretty smooth, but not completely homogenous.
3. Cut the two remaining tomatoes into small chunks.  Transfer the sauce from the food processor into another nonreactive bowl, and stir in the tomato chunks.  Add salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar to taste.  If it’s not hot enough, finely chop some more jalapeño and add that.
4. Enjoy with chips or any other Mexican-style dish.

Peeve time:  when a person does something that first appears to be a gesture of goodwill or altruism, but it turns out to be selfishly motivated.  It’s not selfishness per se that bothers me (we’re all selfish sometimes, which isn’t a big deal as long as you keep it in balance with other motivations), it’s the sneakiness.
Example:  there’s this person toward whom I admit I have a negative feeling.  He used to do No Shame, and he refused to ever tell anybody his real name, instead going by a silly pseudonym.  He never seemed to want to get to know anyone or be friendly, and his pieces often contained jokes that were cheap shots, racist, or of questionable originality.  I can forgive the unfriendliness thing; I can be shy and socially awkward sometimes, so I understand what it’s like to just not know what to say and have people interpret that as unpleasantness.  But the racist jokes and borderline plagiarism rubbed me the wrong way something fierce.

I think he thought he was being ironic with the racist jokes, like “Obviously I’m not a racist person, you all know that, so this joke is actually making fun of people who would make jokes like that.”  It’s a level that might have worked with a more intimate group, but it sure didn’t play well at No Shame.

So, you know Facebook, right?  It’s a social networking website like MySpace or Friendster, but aimed at college and university communities.  As a UI employee, I’m eligible, and I have an account, as do a lot of other people I know.  I recently got a friend request from the guy described above.  I guess it was naive of me, but I thought, “Wow, maybe he’s finally interested in being friendly.”  I believe that everyone has a right and a capacity to change, so I accepted the friend request.  Also, who am I to turn down a friend, even just on Facebook? I thought it was a little strange (or as this guy once punned in a joke that mocked both dwarves and gay people, “a little queer”), but whatever.

Then today I saw an invitation to a Facebook group.  Facebook groups may or may not (and usually do not) have any correlation to a real-life group; they’re usually just funny jokey things people put together for fun.  You can then send messages to the all the group at once, and presumably actually meet, should you want to.

The group I got invited to was on the topic of “I Hate [the person mentioned above] [in the context of a recent foray into comedy he’s been doing].”  It was sent by the person himself.

In summary, he doesn’t want to be friends.  He just wants to amass people to publicize his latest venture, and he thinks he’s doing it in a cute, self-deprecating way.

Well, Mr. Man, I will not be your beast of burden.  I have chosen not to join your group.  I will keep you on my friends list, because everybody deserves a second chance, and if you ever are genuinely interested in being friends beyond the level of self-promotion, I will welcome you.