One More Detour on the Writing Road

A short stretch of rain w/ thunder and a strobe light show of lightning passed through last night, but it seems to have taken some of the humidity with it. It's lovely now, 80s with lower %RH. As soon as I got home from work, I fed the pups, then made dinner for myself and hit the deck. Pasta pesto with some of the garden greens. Glass of wine. Head hurts--brain drain headache. Wine helps. Just sitting helps.

Good news on friends' blogs. That helps, too.

Hope everyone is having a nice evening.

The brownies are very good. Too overbaked to be considered excellent, but I shall revisit this recipe.

I have new glasses. These, to be exact, in olive. What you can't see is the teal feathering along the outsides of the arms. It's not as clashy as it sounds.

I take Kuro in for a check-up/PM tomorrow. No $urprise$, oh Car Gods, please.

Gaby continues to be okay.

New author time. Reading "The Ridge" by Michael Koryta. Really enjoying it so far.

The Gabster skipped lunch, as I expected, but did eat dinner. I didn't overload, but kept it at about 1/2 her usual intake. Didn't want to overfill her.

My appetite was in the dumpster most of the day, and my kitchen patience with it. Thus did y'day's lamb chops w/ Mediterranean salsa give way to tilapia fish fingers (do fish have fingers?) w/ greens and ketchupy tartar sauce rolled up in a tortilla. With wine.

King ate every meal. The day he doesn't is the day you see me *really* scared.

Gaby is sleeping now. She's pretty much slept solid since she came home--temps are in the 90s and she doesn't care for the heat even when she hasn't had the stuffing knocked out of her. I figure she probably didn't sleep very well in the hospital. Not going to worry tonight. Just going to watch.

With much trepidation, left the house late afternoon for an eye exam. My eyes have gotten a touch better, if you can believe it. Enough that new glasses were in order. So I found a pair of cool green metal frames that I will have in plenty of time for NADWcon, to which I am looking forward like whoa.

I realize that Life is what it is. But sometimes I would like to beat it about the head and neck with a baseball bat.

It is a word. I looked it up.

Anyway, this past Sunday I spent the bulk of the day catching up with laundry and making pot roast (parmesan/garlic/chive mashed taters on the side), with the Travel Channel playing in the background. They played episodes of No Reservations all day, with Anthony Bourdain traveling from Chile to Panama to LA to the PacNorWest.

I took a break to watch the PacNorWest segment because it's a favorite part of the country, and I was very glad I did. Most of you have probably heard of Mario Batali, chef/Iron Chef/cookware guy. Turns out that the food stuff runs in the family. His grandfather opened the first Italian food import in Seattle in 1903, and his father retired from his career as a Process Control Engineer at Boeing, went to Italy for 2 years to learn how to cure meats, then returned to Seattle to open a store named Salumi.

It is apparently quite well thought of.

I just thought that was the coolest thing ever. To work the bulk of your young/middle-aged life at one thing, then go on to study something else, something you love, and make it your life's work. The difference between aging and growing old.

I haven't been able to stop thinking about that segment. The idea that growth and learning don't have to end. I know that isn't news to a lot of folks here, but it gave me a boost when I needed it. I want to be so daring in my 50s, my 60s, and G*d willing, beyond. I want to be Carol Emshwiller when I grow up.

That segment just made me happy.

Every time I play a YouTube clip or visit a site with embedded video, my MacBook races. Is it Safari, or my oldish (2008) MacBook? It's kind of irritating.

All quiet in the garage the last couple of days. I hope this indicates a mouse-free state.

Temp hit 70F today, and the "heat" hit the pups like a ton of bricks. Gaby napped the day away, and neither she nor King wanted to go outside until after sunset. Softies.

Hawks are losing to Dallas 0-3. The Stars drove Crawford from the game, and so far look more energetic. The Hawks could pull it out in the 3rd, but I'm not optimistic. Wouldn't mind being wrong, though.

Tax stuff mailed off to accountant. Go Me!

Baked a batch of Ultimate Ginger Cookies. Used the stand mixer for the first time, and noticed the dough had a different consistency. Smoother. More moist, even though I substituted white whole wheat flour for almost half the all-purpose. When I used the hand mixer, the dough turned crumbly, and I had to add more liquid--oil and/or molasses--to get it to hold together, which altered the taste of the cookie. Big, powerful stand mixer works much better.

King's Lyme test indicated that he hasn't been reinfected and doesn't need any treatment. This is a very good thing.

Tomorrow's Friday!

Sometimes you make a decision, and the realization that you've charted a path just makes you feel *good*. You may have fought making the decision in the past, ignored it in the hope it would go away, resolve itself. You may have convinced yourself it wasn't really an issue. Then something happens, and the event snowballs, and you realize that no, you really need to rethink matters.

And so you decide. And wonder of wonders, you feel a lightening in your soul.

Oh well. Time to finish my coffee and get on with the day.

This afternoon, a coworker stopped by my cube to ask me whether peanuts grew on trees, or bushes, or what. I gave him an answer--bushy/shrubby things, peanuts underground--and he said something like, "I figured you would know that."

Years ago, another coworker and I were having lunch, and he was telling me about his brother who worked in a restaurant. And I asked what brother did, and coworker said, well, he worked in the kitchen for the chef, and I said, "Oh, he's a sous chef. What's his specialty?" And coworker stared at me for a moment, then said, "I should have known you would know that."

Writer of books=font of arcana. Must be it.

...and I just realized that it's a five aces day.

1-11-11

Just call me Lightning.

David Bowie is 64 today tomorrow.

Shit.

1) Hour and a half massage this evening. Lovely.

2) Leftover chicken for dinner, with gravy made from the stock, leftover sweet potatoes, and the cranberry relish I made a couple of months ago. The stuff's good for two months, so it should be ok. Sure did taste good.

3) Watching Rachel Maddow discuss her interview with Blago. Did he incriminate himself?

4) Working on goals at work. *gah*

5) New cookbook arrived. Wlliams-Sonoma's "Essentials of Slow Cooking."