thirtysomething...

I'm trying to watch the whole thing, but Damn. This movie is messed up.

Being John Malkovich

I mean, WHAT THE HELL! I like Cusack, Spike Jones' style, John Malkovich, etc etc.

Maybe it's the writer that is a

COMPLETE NUTCASE.


I dunno.


But as I said, I'm trying to watch the whole thing. I'm having a hard time.

This past weekend Heather and I took a trip up to London to FINALLY see a West End show. And by West End I mean "Broadway" to you Yankees. :) We decided to see Wicked. Having both read the book by Gregory Maguire, which we both really liked, there was no real other choice!

In essence, it is the story of Elphaba, The Wicked Witch of the West, that the Wizard really would rather you didn't know. :) The musical strays from the book only in the end, but is still well done. If you ever get the chance to go see the show, DON'T THINK TWICE. Just Do It. You won't be disappointed.

We were lucky that the actress playing Elphaba was Idina Menzel, who won the 2004 Tony Award for 'Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical' for her performance as 'Elphaba' in the original Broadway cast of WICKED. Man, did she have a set of...lungs on her. And she didn't look half bad with green skin, either.

After the show we trekked back down to the Trafalgar Square area and had dinner at The Gay Husser, a Hungarian restaurant in an old bookshop. Very quaint and quite good. I must say though, Max & Moritz in Mt. Pleasant do a better weiner schnitzel.

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

• 1½ cups powdered sugar


• 1 cup margarine or butter, softened


• 1 tsp vanilla


• ½ tsp almond extract


• 1 egg


• 2½ cups all-purpose flour*


• 1 tsp baking soda


• 1 tsp cream of tartar


• Granulated sugar

Directions

Mix powdered sugar, margarine, vanilla, almond extract and egg. Stir in remaining ingredients except granulated sugar. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours.


Heat oven to 375°. Divide dough into halves. Roll each half 3/16 thick on lightly floured cloth- covered board. Cut into desired shapes with 2 - 2½-inch cookie cutters; sprinkle with granulated sugar. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake until edges are light brown, 7 to 8 minutes.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies



*If using self-rising flour, omit baking soda and cream of tartar.

Variations

If you are planning on decorating the cookies, omit granulated sugar on top before baking.

FYI: One Dozen cookies must be sent to me if you use this recipe.