divine angst

Mr. Angst’s job is getting worse (if that’s possible) and we’re trying to find the means of coping. So far, our preferred methods drinking and baking cookies. Tonight, we’re doing both. Since dinner was relatively healthy (sauteed baso [a white fish] with a lemon/garlic vinaigrette, steamed broccoli, and rice), we felt sort of justified having something less healthy to follow up.

Meet the Cookies of Heaven, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. (The oatmeal makes them healthier, and I used Egg Beaters instead of regular eggs. That, ladies and gents, is what’s called justification. Also, we have MANY left.)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups rolled (old-fashioned) oats
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans (we don’t eat cookies with nuts in them)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg (or 1/4 cup Egg Beaters)
1/4 cup maple syrup (or just regular syrup, that’s what I used)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Set 2 racks in the middle and upper thirds of the oven and preheat to 350°F.

In a medium bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, oats, and pecans together with a whisk or fork.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together for 30 seconds until blended. Beat in the egg until smooth and barely fluffy. With mixer running on medium high, drizzle in the maple syrup, and vanilla until incorporated. Turn the mixer down to its lowest setting and gradually add the flour-oatmeal mixture. Blend just to combine, then mix in the chocolate chips.

Drop walnut-sized balls of dough onto a nonstick or parchment-lined cookie sheet at 3-inch intervals. With moistened fingers, flatten and round out the cookies a little. Bake for 9 minutes, turning the pan once for even baking. The cookies are done when they are lightly browned on top. Set the cookie sheets on a rack to cool.

Recipe courtesy of FoodNetwork.com.

As seen at Volokh and L³, Deep Throat appears to have unmasked himself.

I find this VERY INTERESTING. I’ve always thought Deep Throat must have been a very interesting character, from the first time I saw “All the President’s Men” to the writing class I took where we read a great deal of the Watergate journalism.

More as this unfolds!

Update: And the Washington Post confirms it. (Registration required, unfortunately.) Although Woodward seems still a little uncertain that Felt is competent to change the terms of the secrecy agreement, he’s gone ahead and stated that these reports are true.

By the by, it you want to read the Vanity Fair article that started it all, Wonkette has it. It’s not terribly gripping stuff, but it does the trick.

The thing that really gets me is that Felt did what he did out of tremendous loyalty to the Bureau; the other thing that gets me is that he seems to have been weighed down by tremendous guilt over it for the last three decades. In the end, too, it seems money was the motive for revealing himself—not to make himself rich, but to help his family.

My cellphone has been acting up lately; this is annoying and, worse, is affecting my social life. I’ve missed several calls in the last couple of days, at least one because my phone died without its usual warning beeps. I should add that my phone is also pretty gimpy all-around, not just recently. Even my provider recognizes its crappiness, as they informed me not long ago that they’ll be upgrading voice mail systems and that my current phone won’t be compatible with those upgrages. So I have to get a new phone anyway; the question has been, “When?”.

I wanted to wait until a little closer to our apartment-hunting trip because I want to be able to test signal strength in the neighborhoods and buildings we’ll be exploring. (I get a 30-day grace period with a phone upgrade.) Well, the apartment-hunting trip is two-and-a-half weeks away, which means it’s time. So today at lunch I’ll be traipsing down to the T-Mobile store to pick up my new phone. Whee! It’s about time.

Update: Urgh. I got there and their computers were down. The guy helping me was not very helpful. Then I asked about the return period and found it’s really only 14 days, not 30 days. I was mad. I stormed out. Now Mr. Angst wants to look at other providers.

So, request. Do you have a family plan? Do you like it and have good service? Even if you don’t have a family plan, do you like your provider and its customer service? We currently have T-Mobile which I think is fine; I don’t have major problems with them, though they’re not all that eager to bend over backwards to give me free stuff, despite my five years with them.