DISQUS

Here is the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/l...

Only I added curry powder and herb-baked oyster crackers. Good stuff!

Oh fine. If I must provide Romper Room proof, here you go: http://twitpic.com/1e2h1

I'm on the left. My sister is on the right.

Yes I read these comments! I usually just respond to each reader individually if they ask for a response. What would you like me to respond to? Being called a gringo? To be honest, I wasn't really that offended given that I was traveling with a busload of gringos. I mostly used that anecdote as comedic relief for this story. But I agree with most of you here that "gringo" is no way to address people who are trying to help your community. I should have said that to those boys and regret that I didn't. Thank you for pointing that out.

Anything else I've missed?

I'm glad that my post resounded with you! It helps to feel like I'm not alone in this introspection. Thank you so much for reading my blog!! - Natali

@allen stern: you have a meter in front of your house for that stuff, don't you?

Music is Cannonball by The Breeders.

Hey, thanks for watching Loaded!

He can but he thought it would be more fun this way.

Deon,

Netflix is supposed to continue to carry the HD-DVDs that they currently own. They won't be purchasing new ones though. It is a general phase-out and there is no set date. Read the company's release here: http://netflix.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&ite....

Also, AppleTV out today everyone! I'll be dropping more money into the company's bottom line now!

Touché. I'll admit, I did live in a pretty charmed neighborhood in San Francisco. I'm not in the Marina anymore, which is a good lesson for "Princess" to learn, eh? I can handle that.

Yes it will be on iTunes!

For the record, I was not mad at Jayson and I don't think he personally broke my stuff. But he did say 7 and then he said noon. Nevertheless, he was gracious when he got there and I appreciated that. Still, I do have a broken book shelf, armoire, bathroom shelf, and several glasses are broken. I'll be sending photos along with the claim. It isn't the end of the world and to be honest, my studio apartment can't fit most of that stuff anyway. But it is still another thing for me to deal with.

Also, this absolutely does not mean there will be no more cookies and wine-from-the-bottle parties! I foresee more of that in my future but more often than not, I'll use a glass.

:)

For the record, I did not feel personally attacked at all by Anjuan's post. What I meant to say was that I don't agree that what I said should be offensive but I also don't get to say what people find offensive. If he found my comments offensive, it is completely within his prerogative to say so and I should not pass judgment on that.

As for the Puerto Rican gangsters, I wouldn't feel upset about that because there do exist Puerto Rican gangsters, much to my chagrin. I wish there weren't but just saying that they exist does not a slur make. It simply alludes to the sad facts that some Puerto Ricans are dumb enough to get in gangs.

Anyway, to be clear, I did not feel attacked by this issue and all of my readers are perfectly welcome to say whatever they want on my blog as long as it isn't sexist or prurient.

Thanks for standing up for me David and Bryan. Anjuan, of course I would never mean to offend you. I agree with David and Bryan that the use of well-known gang names does not imply any racial slur but we don't get to choose what offends you and what does not. You get to choose that and so I apologize for the simple fact that I made you feel bad.

That being said, I believe that the use of a gang name to illustrate "bad neighborhood" doesn't imply anything whatsoever about race. The two gangs I mentioned have made a terrible name for themselves and it is based on that reputation that I used the reference, not based on their race. I have a masters in sociology and studied race theory extensively so I like to think I'm one of the last people to be insensitive to issues of race but the personal is political so, again, you choose what offends you and what doesn't.

Oh, and no worries for calling me out about this publicly. It is a public blog after all. Thanks for your comments!

Natali

Sorry guys, the baseball movie link works now. :) Enjoy.

Was great to meet you too, Luca!

Thanks Andrew! I expect you and Sarah to be my BFFs when I get there! :)

Me too! It crashed my iCal many, many, many times. What a buggy piece of crap!