| ||
Bookie McBooks:
Sweet Sweet Music
|
Vancouver was neat. The border crossing on the way back was not neat. Two hour wait, just for a cursory glance in the back and a lecture delivered to Sweetie about not having a passport. Those Terrorists All Had Driver's Licenses, you see. Ahead of us, we saw another border guy search carefully through a cooler in a minivan. We suspect it was a search for snacks, rather than any real contraband. Canada won the gold for hockey about 90 minutes before we left town. In Chicago, people riot when their teams win. In Canada, people drive around waving flags and honking their horns. Even the traffic cops were smiling. Sweetie and I have been dining out in many fancy places of late; some of it has been for work, some not. I've mentioned concern that reviewing restaurants for work could easily turn me into more of a demanding little princess than I already am, and don't think I want that to happen. But. But. But twice in 10 days, we spent over $100 on dinner to have one dish arrive with a still-frozen bit of lobster and our entrees only arrive after 35 minutes and apologies from the chef (and two desserts for free). These little issues (ok, the second one was a huge pain; we were tired, hungry, and getting drunk from the wine and empty tummies) were resolved with professional service and many apologies, and I don't expect perfection. But to have annoyances happen at a time when I'm worried about them happening is like having the universe tell me that it's OK to be a demanding little princess. Or something.I love our library system. You should love it to. No more need to know the dewey decimal system, when you can search for books by subject, title, and author--and the librarians go hunt them down for you while you sit at home waiting for them to show up. A little email arrives, and you have a pleasant walk down to the branch of your choosing. Isn't it nice? I gardened more in the traffic circle today. Three bandaids and a head bump later, I recall that I once labeled gardening a full contact sport. so much for a future career as a professional stalker. Not anymore. I finally got my mitts on Fast Food Nation, and it's great. I love corporate history books--Toy Wars and Emperors of Chocolate are other good ones. After two chapters in Fast Food, I've learned that GM is directly responsible for destroying the public trolley system and was taken to court in 1948 for anti-trust issues. The kingpins were fined $1.00 each. The more things don't change, the more depressing it gets. None of these books are particularly unbiased, but each one digs up neat little details that help add perspective to everything from marketing to meat packing. My old co-worker is home safe. Sweetie is taking me to Vancouver for the weekend. Five-pin bowling! Tasty chocolates! Lush! A lovely hotel smack in the middle of downtown! Favorable exchange rate! Official border crossings! Yay Canada! I still have a magnet taped to my butt, and weirdly, it seems to be helping. The spot it was one for a week no longer hurts at all, so it was moved to another horribly painful little spot a few inches to the right. Weird, weird, weird. I love my acupuncturist. Sweetie saw her for a huge nasty lump of bursitis, which hasn't troubled him since, and Brothermine saw her for some back pain (muscular, I think) which wasn't permanently helped, although it felt good. Go see her! They take a lot of insurance plans! A friend has been arrested in China for protesting with the falun gong. Her sister made it back ok- well, was deported- but Masooma's passport was apparently "lost". I'm very scared for her. Feel free to bug your congressfolk to help get her home. My acupuncturist taped a magnet to my butt, which I'm supposed to leave be for a week. Sweetie keeps attaching metal things to my ass. It would be funnier if I could see them, and if it didn't feel somewhat unpleasant. At dinner on Valentine's day, one of the dishes I ordered was sent back because the lobster in it was still basically frozen. As apology, I was given a set of fruit leather underwear. We live in a weird, weird, world. The thingy was designed to fit either gender with a similar level of discomfort, which I applauded- sort of an adjustable codpiece/g-string, for those who don't get the idea. After writing this, I felt a little dumb eating out. We then wandered off to see the Flying Karamozov Brothers, which was fun. Front row seats are always entertaining when eggs, water, and flames are gettting tossed around by a bunch of stoned hippies. Many of you missed out on the cupcakes. Fools. White chocolate ganache frosting. mmmmmm. I managed to archive the last month's stuff twice, and can't figure out how to fix it as of yet. Apologies to any who don't figure this out before wasting twice as much time as necessary. These are fun to compare. Here's Enron's ress releases for 2000, and here's Enron's press releases for 2001. This one is especially nice. "Corporate culture" indeed, Mr. Lay. You should learn more about cheese. I like the name of this one. Pinchy Pinch Pinch.Time to start cooking. The pie is particularly repulsive. My cupcakes will be much tastier than any of this crap. Come have one on Thursday, won't you? |
Make New Friends Role Models Edible Entertainment |