13 Wasted...wha....?

Where the hell did college football season go?

For those about to rock

Mr S's birthday present was AC/Dc tickets, sold out at the Schott. When he received them, he was speechless, so I knew I picked the right show. We got to the show, grabbed a beer and took our seats, which were dead-center and perfect. The opening act, the Answer, from Belfast, Northern Ireland don't ya know, was good, although they had yet to adjust their show to such a large venue and used only about half the stage. The first thing that came to both our minds was: how did lead singers behave before Chris Robinson? Seriously. The music was good, loud and loud. A fundamental property was the vocals often blended indistinguishably form the guitar. I love when the vocals and lyrics are basically another instrument. The band was very personable and I really liked their nod to the OSU/Buckeye game. They went with simple: "We hear that you are big football fans. (cheer) By default, you like beer. (cheer) So I think we'll get along just fine (roar)". Contrast that with Bob Schneider's awkward salute a few years back, which went on for like 5 minutes and he didn't do a single thing that showed he knew what the hell he was talking about. While I understand you want to connect with your crowd, with Buckeyes you have 2 choices: polite nod to the crazy people or throw an "OH" and bust into Hang on Sloopy. Anything in the middle just annoys. Ferinstance, Barenaked Ladies came to town a while back and they always do something local, but well-researched. Theirs was an inspired tribute to Tim Horton's. Neck up or full monty, I say.

AC/DC started with a locomotive and fellatio-themed video thing. It was good for the effects, but as a woman, left a little to be desired. After that, the show was exactly as expected: Loud and full of standards. A generally good time. Unfortunately, I am too observant for my own good. Mr S was having the time of his life. He was dancing a lot. To his own drummer. Think Elaine from Seinfeld. It is one thing to dance like nobody is looking, but another to do it when with 20K of your closest friends. I was so happy to see he was having a great time. Until I looked  across the aisle and saw the teenagers laughing at him. 10 minutes later, I sat down for a moment and realized they were actually imitating him. He was their show. It went on for a song or two. I made eye contact with the little assholes and gave hem the best ojo I could muster. Knowing that my prime directive was to make sure Husband had a good time, I couldn't go over and dress them down appropriately. So I fumed in silence and did my best to ignore. I am really bad at ignoring. Next time looked, it appeared that someone made them aware they were being cruel, because they had stopped. I did not have an opportunity to slice their throats. The rest of the show passed according to plan (unless you take exception to Angus Young performing a striptease). The ears are still a'ringing.

I Heart TVMALSV

Why is it all my favorite shows are TVMALSV? I am not attracted to gratuitous violence and tv sex just makes me sad. I'm watching Sons of Anarchy right now. Love this show. They had me during the first episode with the Black Keys. Love the Black Keys. I find it kind of annoying that the person who gets top billing is Drea DeMatteo. She's fine and famous, but there are a bunch of good actors on this show, plus Hellboy. and the smoking hot boy who they have to grunge up because he is so pretty. Holy shit! I knew I'd seen him before. He was on Queer as Folk. Where all the pretty boys lived. I miss that show so much. Emmett was my fave. but I didn't like him when I saw him out of character. In both the bonus footage and the History Of Comedy, he was so bland. Must be a hard character to live up to. I love Dexter, especially the sister and the stuff in Dexter's mind. Kinda hate Girlfriend. She is whiny and ...ok...I'd like to look like her. But not act like her. Speaking of looking good, I have been exercising and eating very well. I've had 3 beers in 3 weeks. I stopped at Whole Foods because I love their rainbow roll. There is a woman there who hooks me up.I get a roll that is 50% larger than usual with extra wasabi and the fish is fresh fresh fresh. So the sushi bar is all the way in the back corner. I hate running the gauntlet. Wanna see inside my brain? ...mmm beer, meringues, freshly roasted nuts, cookies, pastries, tiramisu, piiiiiizzzzaaaaa, bread, bread, bread, croissant, sushi, samosa, tiramisu, rugalach, rugalach, rugalach, piiiiieeeee. OMG fresh air.

Husband's birthday is tomorrow. Means I get to go to dinner at Hickory House and not eat the meal I love. hhhmmmm sigh. I lucked out and the perfect gift jumped in my lap. I anticipate major excitement. I even think I haven't  given up the surprise. I have a bad habit of ruining the surprise, a tell if you will. Hope he is as excited as I think, otherwise I have to break out the mullet and the tube top for nothing.

One with the Borg

My mom and aunt made me feel like a tech loser last night because they're on Facebook and I'm not. add that to Wii envy and I feel rather inadequate. Since Facebook is free and Wii is not, at least I can take care of 1 of those., so I have joined.

Tab Benoit & Richmond

Went to see Tab Benoit at the Thirsty Ear with R&J. OMG. I am only a fan of the blues in a "vegetables are good for you" kinda way. I know without the blues, all the flavors of rock would not exist. That said, in reality I tend to find a live show of a blues act to be a little monotonous. Until Tab Benoit. What a show. Love the Thirsty Ear; good folks, no teeny boppers, good beer. Everything flowed nicely. He is an amazing guitarist and an interesting, entertaining guy. One minor distraction was the fact that I couldn't stop thinking about how he would look naked. That is one fine looking man.

I visited my brother and his family in Richmond, VA for a few days in August. They are so wonderful. My sister-in-law is a stay-at-home mom who won a repeated battle with breast cancer. She spends her time making sure she teaches my 12 yo niece about life, love and responsibility. My niece is a rather amazing kid herself. She is kind, funny and caring, as well as charming and beautiful. She is a model an actress and it was a little annoying that while I was there she received checks that added up to about twice my monthly salary. We went to the Richmond museum of art (worth the time, Faberge exhibit) as well as Petersburg, a battlefield town just south of Richmond. Had a nice lunch and spent 2 hours in a vintage clothing store playing dress-up. It was nice getting to spend that kind of time. We then went to D.C. for the weekend. I was soooo excited, as I had never been. My bro wanted to go to the Newseum, which was amazing. They had one of the towers form Checkpoint Charlie, the Magna Carta and M&N were able to make their own newscast. N was funny as she wouldn't let M get a word in. Showboater:). We went to see both Roosevelts' memorials. That night, we went hungry, exhausted and stressed to find dinner in Alexandria. We found this amazing tapas restaurant where we had some lovely tasty items. And wine. Thank god for wine. My niece and I shared a hotel room and it may have been my favorite part of my visit. She is such a great young person and not spastic like some kids. And she doesn't snore. Next day, we went to the castle at the Smithsonian. What a great story about how it was started. Then we went to the National Gallery. I loved seeing the originals of so many things I've seen in movies and tv. Plus, I love museum gift shops and theirs was the BEST EVER. Next, we went to lunch at the native American museum. I took home a Tanka bar made of buffalo and cranberries. I just ate it yesterday and it was really good. If they weren't $4 a pop, I'd buy more. We also went to the Lincoln memorial and Korean War memorial. Basically, I learned that I need to go back to see all the stuff I didn't know I wanted to see. On the way back, I saw something that I thought was mythical. Those of you who are fans of Stephanie Plum will know what I'm talking about:

Shitstorm

And then things got difficult. Our door became difficult to close. Then it was closed or open, but could not do both. Father brought over hit tools and chiseled the doorframe so it was again operational. I am so relieved nobody came and knocked on the door. How embarrassing. Then there was the crack in the drywall. Called the Basement Doctor. He diagnosed acute droopiness, sorta like foundational Bell's palsy. He quoted either $3800, $12800 or $15800. That is like saying you either have hiccups, diabetes or heart failure. He recommended a structural engineer. The structural engineer said our shrubbery was causing bowing, water draining to nowhere causing drooping and our neighbor's tree causing more bowing. Grrr. So, now we need to have our house jacked up and a new door installed. Custom size of course. Then Mr S's truck started bucking like a bronco on crack. At least we are healthy. Then I had 2 terrifying nosebleeds in 2 days. I do not get nosebleeds. Now, one of the disadvantages of having a medical background is you know all the scary things that can cause a symptom. Fortunately, it is now the weekend, we have the current batch-o-crap under control, so I think I should have my stress under wraps. Unless my Buckeyes lose to Penn State.

Warhol at Wexner

The Wexner Center on the OSU campus managed a biggie by landing the Warhol Exhibit. A and I met there for Thursday happy hour and culture. Normally, it is $8, but Thursdays are free. They also had a free guided tour, but I often find those are TMI. We puttered around the first room that had 3 movie screens set up showing his screen tests of various people cooler than I. Also, lots of Mick Jagger and Truman Capote. There were cubbies all along one wall that you could sit in and listen to interviews. The looong hallway up to the rest of the exhibit was lined with tv screens playing more interviews from during the Factory days. The next room had memorabilia and a couple pop icons like the Marilyn photo and soup cans. The most amazing feature of this room was they had about 15 movie screens set up with sound craftily projected into the immediate area with foam and speakers. No walls. It was amazing. Next was a room with 40+ tvs suspended back-to-back from the ceiling displaying loops of his series 15 minutes. I could spend days in there, I particularly liked the interview with John Waters. Finally, there was an installation called...uh...Silver Clouds or something. It was a room defined by hanging metallic rope. Within the room were a couple dozen metallic helium balloons and fans. You could walk in and move the balloons around. Not sure how to describe it, but it was like time was different. Movement was slow and smooth and exaggerated. I will probably go back before it closes. Also, Cameron Mitchell has a small cafe there where we had a glass of wine and a really good turkey panini.

Louisville v UConn

Mr S's pathologist in charge is fabulous. She gave us tickets to the Louisville/UConn football game in Louisville, complete with awesome parking! Perfect excuse to go to my favorite breakfast place in the world, Lynn's Paradise Cafe, and my favorite boutique, Regalo. I also have been on a quest to find the perfect throw pillows for my new sofa. I reallllllly like Marimekko, so was hoping to see some pillows in person. We stopped in Hyde Park in Cinci at a store that was listed as having them, but they only had one pillow. Rats! I did buy an awesome shirt, though. On to L-Ville. We stayed at the Galt House, Louisville's largest, oldest, oddest hotels. Since we Pricelined and got the room for $75, we were put in the weird room 2 doors down from the restaurant. It was clean and the ac like a rocket, so it was just fine, if quite dated. The tower portion of the hotel was a bizarre flashback to the 70's. Lotsa wood paneling. It was great for $75 though. Last time we were in town, we paid $65 for a crappy motel off the interstate. \So onto the game. 2 hours before the game and tailgating was just starting. Coming from OSU land, we start drinking the day before. On the subject of drinking, we were at the bar of the freakishly-popular Spaghetti Factory and there were a bunch of girls starting the night of a bachelorette party. They were having none of that namby-pamby Mich Ultra, appletini stuff. They ordered Beam and coke, Maker's Mark on the rocks and other hairy chest drinks. Noticed that everywhere we went. Serious drinking is alive and well. Lynn's was awesome. I had the wild mushroom scramble with cheese grits and biscuits with sorghum butter. Oh man, sounds so good.

Uncle!

Ok. Fine. Not a Canadian Hurricane! Our friend Ike had a strong showing here in Central Ohio. Trees down everywhere (we lost one of the previously-matching pair in front of our house) and huge percentage of Ohioans out of power. Got to see a lot of my neighbors. Tales of life without power were the topic of the day for many days. One of my co-workers had an electric-powered water pump from their well, so they also had no water. My biggest worry was I was on call. Kinda hard to be tech support when you are in the stone age. At least I still had a phone so I could call the vendor and had co-workers who still had power. So the power went off Sunday afternoon, food destroyed by Monday. I was doing coiffeur at work. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. I was in bed Thursday, reading by flashlight, when I heard what I thought was a generator. I though "great, now I won't even be able to sleep with the windows open". Then I heard shouting, which was really cheering. Then saw the bathroom light was on!!! I added to the cheering. I was truly impressed by how much help was offered by those with power. Nice to see folks helping out like that.

Canadian Hurricane

(Ike)

So I'm watching Hurricane Ike coverage because I can't help it. There are a couple of things that keep going through my mind:

Windy Breezehair and Jock Winters from the Weather Channel, who have the camera on them for waaaay too much time(ok, because people like me keep watching), have this tick, like "um" or "like". They end every sentence with "as well", no matter what. Especially annoying is the combination with "also". The mantra: "just keep talking".

There were a bunch of people in areas in the direct path who chose to ride it out, in spite of evidence that the hurricane was going to be a doozy, with probable loss of life. First, people are too attached to their "stuff". Really, I do not have a single "thing" that I would give my life for. Plus, the stuff will be destroyed anyway, with the added bonus that they get to go with it. Second, it is another sign that the US continues on its path to an intellectual dark ages. People will completely disregard scientific evidence that there is a good chance that they could die because "the last hurricane wasn't as bad as they said it would be" or "God will protect me". You know what? I'm pretty sure your God would kick you in the  ass for ignoring the evidence presented. Finally, deciding to ride it our seems astoundingly selfish, because these same people who decided to ride it out are the same people more than willing to call 911 and put rescue personnel in danger. They will be the same ones criticizing emergency personnel for not responding quickly enough.

Finally, POTUS decided he'd better actually acknowledge this disaster sooner than Katrina. You know he had to bring up oil.

For the folks who did evacuate, it must be amazingly awful to watch the coverage, wondering if you will have a home ot return to. Good thoughts go out to them.

1st Lost Weekend

Hooray! My Buckeyes won! Crap!! Beanie Wells is out! I must say this, though: I feel terrible for the guy and the team, but I am getting quite sick of hearing the news coverage like it is the end of the season for the Bucks. It is a team sport. It takes the whole team to make him look that good. We'll be ok. We are knee-deep in the best of the best at OSU.

Great moment today during the Kentucky/Louisville game:  A 310# defensive tackle from Kentucky picked up a fumble and returned it 70-something yards for a touchdown. He was being chased by the 309# L'Ville center. I love those plays. Any end-zone celebration is one of amazement. Announcer: "You could time that race with a sundial."

13 Wasted Saturdays

Ahhhhhh. Football season again!!!!

Smacked

Based on a recommendation by Columbus Foodie, I tried Sunday Brunch at Smackie Smokehouse. Was a no-go for Mr. S and he want with a pull pork sand while I hit the trough. The selection was small and let's just say low on fiber. I tried collard greens for the first time. I liked them, but it could be the flavor of something swine-related that made them tasty. I learned that the combination of fried chicken and waffles originated in Harlem, which was cool because I asked that very question just the other week. The fried chicken looked tasty, but unfortunately was veeerrrryyyy rubbery. Didn't finish it. Passed on the waffles. The mac n cheese was ala Velveeta. There were a couple of items I did really like: the brisket was very tasty and is better than any I've had in C-Bus. The "banana puddin" was scrumptious, as was the sausage gravy. I do not see us going back for dinner or brunch, but I could see us picking up some brisket on occasion. The man at the table next to us had a problem with mucus. A very loud problem. To be honest, it probably negatively impacted our impression of the restaurant. Not necessarily fair, but it was the equivalent of someone blowing their nose every 30 seconds throughout the entire meal. The service was very good, timely and friendly. Check another one off.

The perfect dinner

I had read about Pistacia Vera from several local food bloggers, but never made the trip. A local restaurant organization, Dine Originals, has a gift certificate sale a couple times a year and PV is a member. I put my dessert-lovin' foot down and purchased one. Talked with J&D and they agreed a dessert happy hour might be worth a try. Well D was all like "perhaps we should have some sort of dinner before dessert". Whatever. Ok fine. Then I guess we should have a beer too if you're going to get all normal. So we had a bev at Club 185, the club voted most likely to look like a crack den from the outside. I like it on the inside, although they could use a more rounded beer list. next, Katzinger's for a sandwich (Reuben, yum, half of which was wrapped up for lunch the next day). Finally, PV awaited. Also known as my new favorite place in the whole world. The store was adorable and the desserts were amazing. There were 12 flavors of macarons. We settled on white chocolate coconut, strawberry balsamic, chocolate bergamot and mint chocolate. They have these gumdrops they call pate de fruit that are just amazing. We has cherry kirsch and grapefruit campari. We had a sweet wine tea cookie, a cashew caramel, a pistachio nougat and a pistachio mascarpone dacquoise. For the love of Mike. I can still taste every bite. I think my faves were the cherry kirsch pate de fruit and the pistachio mascarpone dacquoise. The former was this intense burst of flavor and the latter this light creamy nutty cloudy misty spongy stack of amazingness. Lookie:

Catching Up

I'm going to play catch-up. Part of the reason I dawdled was the enormity of the task. So I'm going to start from the present and catch up as I feel like it. Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah.

Starting Back Up

Testing Windows Live Writer on my new laptop.

Today I was amazed to learn that someone I always felt was reaaallyy cool was even more awesome.

Today I learned that Julia Child was a spy. As if being a fabulous chef, entertaining personality and all-around interesting person wasn't enough.

Romancing the Grape

My other friend D always goes to Romancing the Grape with her husband, also a D with 2 n's. It is a benefit for Easter Seals of Ohio:
Join Easter Seals for an evening of fine wines and culinary delights. Taste a variety of the world's finest wines and enjoy hors d'oevres from top area restaurants. The evening also includes entertainment, silent auction, and the presentation of the Second Annual John Daniels Wine Awards. All proceeds benefit people with disabilities in central Ohio. For more information, please call (614) 228-5523 or visit www.EasterSealsCentralOhio.org
Since D was out of town this year, they were so generous and asked me to take D's ticket, since he still wanted to donate but could not attend. I only get red wine occasionally due to the extreme pain it causes in the noggular region, so I burned a red wine coupon and bellied up. Pulled out the cleavage dress so nobody would notice the size of my ass and hit the benefit set. Really interesting crowd, all the way from Columbus Society (I know, small pond) to kids in jeans and flip-flops. Found a couple of new wines (fave was "Sangre de Toro"and the rest of the Torres Spanish wines) and the food was amazing. Next year, I will park myself next to the Refectory table and only move to get more vino. They had these scallops, but they were more than scallops, because they were actually a mousse with scallops, egg and cream, molded, cooked by elves and served with creamy sunshine. Oh my god, I must have eaten 20. They also had a cucumber on bread filled with a blue cheese...frapee whipped yumminess. Also, a few tables had shrimp scampi and it wasn't the "crowd of cheap people going for the trough, so let's give em the crap", this was huge, wonderful, perfectly prepared scampi. La Chatelaine had to-go boxes for pastries. Next year, must remember to bring a bigger purse :) I believe I will be buying my own ticket next year. Even though it was for charity and I actually paid nothing, I really felt that had I paid I would have gotten my money's worth, especially with the group we went with. Also, Columbus is a really casual town and I married a really casual man, so it was nice to get dressed up a bit. Whew! Home to the fuzzy slippers.
Actually, we had an Open House scheduled for us Sunday, so no rest for the wicked (or mildly hungover). Up at 8 to start the cleaning checklist. Left from 1-4, got home, cracked a beer in Club Mo with the kitties and got a call that someone else wanted to come by to look, so we had 15 minutes to pack it back up and leave. Actually had a nice time with Mr S but the end result was a completely ruined Sunday. Think it might be time to take the house off the market. Need to relax a bit.

In the nick of time

Seemed like a really long winter. I am not usually one to get the doldrums, but this year kicked my butt. Seems like someone let spring in all of a sudden and everybody was ready to climb out of their shells, entertaining and socializing. Some friends had a cookout that was absolutely perfect. Great combination of folks, tasty brats, a buncha wine (tried a nice albarino-chardonnay blend). Firepit and a lot of laughs. Felt like a weight was lifted. They also had a shiatsu chair that perhaps aided in the relaxation. In case Mr S does happen to glance at this... nudge nudge.

Lab Week

Since the other 51 weeks a year are Nurse's Week, lab folk get one a year. Basically, we find a way to get a huge jolt of sugar in the afternoon every day. We did get nice shirts this year, which will be good for one wardrobe selection a week until they fall apart. We also raise a helluva lotta dough for Operation Feed every year. How else does one get rid of that 6 cans of organic baked beans one bought on sale? just kiiiiiiding. But I do have to decide how much I am willing to part with one of my boxes of Kraft mac n cheese every year. But seriously, not only do we get to feed a bunch of folks less fortunate (a number that is obviously rocketing), but we get to kick the rest of the hospital's collective ass once a year.

Switch of roles

Mr Stockula had foot surgery. My turn to step up to the plate. I can't say I behaved all that admirably for the first couple of weeks, but I think I am doing better, especially since he does the laundry now. I have mowed the lawn for the first time in my 39 years. Now that the mystique is gone, I kinda like it. Good thing Mr S thinks my blog is boring. I really want him to resume mowing when he is better.

shameful secret

So, I have a weakness for hollandaise. I am not a snob about it. Trader Joe's has taken my favorite sauce and packaged it in a jar. Although I know it is so so wrong, I can't help but be happy about Eggs Benedict in 5 minutes on a random Tuesday night.

Eating the elephant

They say a journey of 1000 miles starts with a single post, or something like that. So, back on the ole blogwagon I go.

We've been kinda hunkered down recently. Mr S had foot surgery and we've still got the house on the market, although I have no clue why. On the plus side, the house is always clean. In the minus column, where the f&#k is my tart pan?!?!?

Headed to Pontiac, MI to see Stars, a band I enjoyed at ACL 2 years ago. I love going to exotic locations like Pontiac and Cleveland. The trip up was nice and Mr S wanted to hit Ann Arbor since it was close, so I put on my OSU earrings as a talisman and mapped it out. Stopped for lunch at Arbor Brewing, cute place with tasty food and beer in a cute little district of shops and restaurants. Definitely want to go there again.

This was M seeing the new table of delightful young ones thundering screaming invading the table next to us. That is the only problem with brew pubs. They have a different name than "bar", so parents feel free to bring their kids, which tempers my pleasure, I must say. But the Alt Ale was very tasty and so was the portabella sandwich.

Off to U of M. Stopped at a store to buy M some michigan clothing in its natural habitat. They had much better stuff than OSU! He scored a nice Columbia jacket for $49 and the usual flotsam and jetsam like a lanyard and a hat.

Had a bev at the Red Hawk Tavern. M ws happy b/c they had Great Lakes on tap and I dug the New Holland Red Tulip Ale.
Have to stop for now. Finish catching up soon!

Feeling Surly

Since my last time at Surly Girl, I've wanted very much to return for another peeptini, both for a photo and because they are tasty. Tried a couple weeks ago and they were closed for an employee party. Next, March 15th, Saturday at 1pm. Packed to the rafters with enthusiastic, if precocious, St. Patty's revelers. I was beginning to think it was going to turn into a Whiskey River.
Digression: the term Whiskey River comes from a case of musical disfulfillment I've had with Mr Nelson for years. We were going to join Willie and 100K of our closest friends for his annual 4th of July picnic. I had never seen him, but had been told he always started his shows with Whiskey River. It was rolling around in my head for the 2 weeks leading up to the show. And he didn't start with it. And he didn't play it when he came onstage for the second time. We stayed in 95deg heat for 10 hours and he didn't play it. Enjoyed the other musicians, at least most of them, I can do without Pat Green, but left unsatisfied and sunburned. Next, he was the headliner for the ACL Festival. Spent the day watching other bands but counting on getting this itch scratched. We were so far back we couldn't hear the song. We did hear lots and lots of people in front of us having a great time. Someday.
Back to Surly Girl. Clouds parted, angels sang:
Now, the thing I like most about SG is the juxtaposition of diverse motifs that come together to make a very interesting, comfortable restaurant. The folks who work there are real, the food is excellent: if you want vegetarian, you've got the best vegetarian. If you want carnivore, you've got really good carnivore. You want skulls, Johnny Cash, peeptinis, a drink called Satan's Little Helper, roller derby, punk rock aerobics, beaded chandeliers, Wonder Woman, you're in luck! Just love the place. This is the opposite of a chain, formula restaurant. Just clicked on their MySpace, warning cool, loud music.
One interesting pattern I've begun to notice is there always is a person who will not stop talking. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah....
Last time was March 4th (primary day) and this guy was at the bar lecturing this other patron about his voting responsibilities, loudly, not interactively, ad nauseum. He was yelling at the guy to get his lazy ass off the barstool and go vote. As we had already done our civic duty, it was bothersome and it did not let the whole time we were there. Hey buddy, can I buy you a shot of Shut the Hell Up? I'm trying to have a birthday drink over here.
So yesterday's trip, there was this little girl with the same problem, but it wasn't even backed up with intelligence. It was this ditzy, teenager-on-the-phone monologue that did not end. It was possible to tune it out every so often, but then it would come back. Even Mr S commented "Does she ever shut up?" As well as the verbosity, she had the voice of Carol Kane. Man, I just spent 15 minutes of my life trying to find her last name. Finally googled "actress carol high-pitched voice" and was reminded of her most famous role as Latka's wife. Whew. I'd hate to have that bugging me too.

Fork at Trattoria Roma

As I was High Fork Hostess for the month of March, I selected Trattoria Roma, one of those restaurants that have been around forever, rated highly, but one that never made the schedule. If you click the link you get cheesy music and the picture of the restaurant has a ...watermark for lack of a better term, with a guy who looks pretty tough. Kind of an odd subliminal message. I think he is the owner. And he's not having much fun? So I wanted to keep the menu open to reference, but there is no sound off for the music that sounds like it a bad ring tone from my cell phone. Must be quick.
The food, service, atmosphere and price were all great.

For apps, I recommend the antipasti plate and the daily foccacia, which on that day was this pancetta-heaped creation that started things off right. No wait, that was the martini, one of many tasty selections from the martini menu.

For dinner, I chose the CONCHIGLIA AMATRICANA Fresh sea scallops pan seared, served with farro tossed in a crispy pancetta tomato marinara.
It was amazing, the scallops were chewy and flavorful on the outside, but tender, not overdone on the inside. This was my first experience with farro and it made a great accompaniment. J had POLLO CON GORGONZOLA Grilled chicken, mixed mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, spinach, and gorgonzola with linguine tossed in a light basil infused olive oil which was visually impressive as well as very tasty. Another notable was the BEEF BRACIOLE Thinly sliced sirloin wrapped around ground veal, sausage, beef and fontinella cheese, braised with tomatoes, peppers and onions, served with rigatoni: meat wrapped in meat wrapped in meat, kinda like a terducken but not disgusting.

Dessert may have been my favorite part. Per usual, we ordered the complete list. Their creme brulee wasn't anything I'd order again and the tiramisu wasn't what I was used to, a little dry. The lemon tart was fabulous and I think I now have a new favorite dessert in town: A chocolate Pots de creme. Even better now that I know how to pronounce it. Had the flavor of the perfect chocolate mousse, my favorite dessert of all if done right, and this was. I may have a new favorite meal: Trattoria tini, Foccacia and antipasti and Pots de creme. Well now I'm hungry.

Aye Carumba!

So, Mr. S's transmission died in his 2000 Mazda pickup. To repair, it would cost almost as much as it is worth. As we don't have new car money lying around, I've been checking out Craig's List for cars $200-$1000. The selection is surprisingly diverse.
The descriptions are tricky. "1995 Jeep Wrangler. Runs great! No rust! New tires! Doesn't go in reverse."
or "I really don't know what is wrong with it, but something is loose".
I would love some truth in advertising: "What do you want for $500? This thing has 4 tires, one seat and a prolapsed transmission".
I kinda like the fact that some folks are really poor writers, so they can be ruled out. I figure that if they have poor grammar and spelling, they don't take good care of their cars. False correlation?
There are also the TMI folks: "Cynliders 1 and 3 are at 30lbs and 2 and 4 are at 250lbs and the flux capacitor is shifted 14.3%. I last changed the oil Tuesday and have every 1500 miles".
I keep hoping that a 1995 civic with 100K miles will show up for $500.

You want snow? You got snow.

Guess the BBQ is canceled.

Mr Stockula always complains that we never get any snow. For some reason, he thought central Ohio was snowed in 300 days a year. Frankly, one foot of snow in 12 hours is enough and I think he agrees after digging us out today. Still can't go anywhere, as the snow is above the bottom of the Element of Surprise, but we're ready once the plows come through. Should be within 48 hours or so. Darn, have to stay in, watch tv, blog, nap and cook. The kitties aren't allowed outside very often, so today we opened the door and out they ran. WTF??? Phoebe and Mitzi only made it one step, Claudia two. Good times. Family, especially Texas family, called to make sure we were ok. The weather coverage was hilarious. I love when the news folks have been up for too long and get punchy. Also, the "We have Stormy Assfreezer in Delaware county, which is under a level 3 snow emergency" segments are a riot.

My very late 20s

As this year was my final 30s birthday, I decided a 4-day weekend was in order.

Got a cabin at Dillon State Park with R, J, A and K. The weather was perfect for hiking, eating drinking and burning things. I am more of a “camper” than a camper, so the cabin with full kitchen, gas fireplace and 2 patios was perfect. Seriously, how can I live without my electric pepper mill?

Watched the History of the Joke on the History channel Sunday, hosted by Lewis Black.

Really enjoyed it and I have a new favorite joke:

Q: How many surrealists does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: Yarn

On Tuesday, my actual birthday, I went to the Aveda Institute for a pedicure, facial and Eyebrow wax. Lesson learned: As this is an actual school, make sure they are at the end of a quarter, not the beginning. Eyebrows were waxed ala Syd Barrett, I could have done a better pedicure, but the facial was really good, if carefully scripted.

Mr Stockula and I had a snack and beverage at the Surly Girl. They have a peeptini! I will be going back for a photo. Also, they have Elliot Ness on tap, so Mr S was ecstatic. For dinner, we went to my fave sushi place, Haiku. They have a fabulous ambiance, great service and great food. Plus a Key West martini that hits the spot.

Dog not only rude, but disgusting

Decided to burn a coupon, so I picked Rude Dog on Sancus based on their description. The place was empty, but it was early, so we grabbed a seat at the bar. First, the description said “over 36 beers”. This might technically be true, if you count Bud, Bud light, Bud Select, Bud draft, Bud tall boy, Bud dry and the rest of nasty macro brews. The special menu had an item that sounded good, so I went with it: Spice-rubbed roasted chicken with a twice-baked potato and corn and bacon soufflé. What arrived was airline chicken, 50% fat, with a tasteless bbq sauce, a weird mashed potato thing that only resembled a twice-baked potato in appearance, not taste, and this greasy glop that did have corn and bacon, but so many other unidentifiable ingredients as to be inedible, as was the whole plate. Honestly, I will eat almost anything, but this was not food. Mr S has BBQ chicken pizza, a safe standby. It too was glistening in a revolting way, also inedible. We paid and went to the Liz for $0.40 wing night.

Cleveland Part II

On to House of Blues. Loved the venue. It was really well-planned with many good places to stand with a great view of the stage. The service was also very friendly. The burger was Lilliputian, but tasty. Thumb included for scale.

Band one was the Zou from Youngstown, OH. They had a great sound, but I think they have a Barenaked Ladies issue: their appearance wasn't what the shallow folk have come to expect, so many of the people around us were cracking on that without listening. What they would have heard was a very energetic, very technically competent, enthusiastic band with a couple of great songs surrounded by many very good songs. One, A Boy Like Me, was an excellent commentary on society and relationships and another, Sleazy, was absolutely the best rock anthem I have heard since high school in the 80's. The lead singer from Red Wanting Blue joined them and the duet had a great beat, hook, lyrics, you name it. I bought the cd and popped it in on the way back, all atwitter for the amazingness to continue. Shit, the recording sucks. I will be keeping an eye out for them. Paying the cover to hear that one song would be worth it. Now, if I could only get that f*&king song out my my head.
The band we went to see, American Bang, was worth the trip. They were the opening opening band for the Donnas a few months ago. Loved their sound and energy and the lead singer was talented and friendly. Move to the Music was great and the whole show required mandatory dancing. They also have cool t-shirts.
Now, Red Wanting Blue I compare to OAR and Hot Hot Heat, college bands with a loyal teeny-bopper following. They were all "Look at me! I have a porkpie hat". Whatev.
Aaaannnndddd, my ex-guitar instructor lied! Unless he got fired or quit for a better band.
My impressions of Cleveland concert: Great venue, rude customers, bad shoes, incredibly friendly service staff everywhere. Can't wait to go back!
Made it back to the hotel safe and sound and crashed. Breakfast the next day was ok. Instant gratification bacon. Can't really complain. Until you are finished. Apparently the omelette cook was serving omelettes made to order, as long as you wanted snark. Sunday morning in the restaurant biz can be a little tricky, since restaurant folks tend to be enthusiastic partiers on Saturday (and the other 6) nights. I was amused because our server's tag said "Judy Aerosmith". What a cool name! Then we checked out and the registration person's name was "Jennifer Rascal Flatts" and it clicked. I wonder if they censor the names you can use: What if your favorite band was Ass Pony, Circle Jerks or Chainsaw Kittens?

Hi!
My name is:
Heather
A Trunk Full of Dead Bodies
How may I help you?

One more comment about the hotel: the parking garage had this dramatic classical music playing. I kept wondering if I was going to get whacked.

Cleveland Pt I

So Cleveland was a blast! Since we had to leave in the afternoon instead of the morning, decided to skip the legit touristy stuff, check into the hotel and head to Great Lakes Brewery.
The Marriott at Key Center was the Best Hotel I've Ever Stayed In! I am a 3-star kinda girl: no frills, but convenient and squeaky clean.
$100 a night, free breakfast (had gravy) and free parking. Also, 1.5 blocks from House of Blues. So, we get a cab at the front of the hotel. $6.75+tip to Great Lakes. We are seated by the kitchen, on a card table, next to a party of 12 (10 children) because the bar was packed at 4pm. After we asked for a better table, we are squeezed into a table at the bar. I know I am so rude to have breasts, but this was the skinniest table ever, next to the rowdiest, loudest trio ever to walk into a bar and stumble out. They became our best friends, full of great recommendations and fun stories. I had the sampler. It had 12 beers, each 4 oz. Perfect. M's burger was just ok, but hey, love the one you're with, no? After the sampler, I decide some food was in order and got a $9 pretzel. This fresh rye pretzel duo was amazing and served with yellow and brown mustard, as well as this orange horseradishy sauce that was magically delicious. Do I hear $10? Our cabbie picked us at the requested time (On the dot. Not a minute late) and deposited us back at the hotel.
Ah. The hotel. Our room was 20th floor, corner room, lake view. Absolutely perfect. We were greeted with the sound machine tuned to "ocean" and the view tuned to "freaking amazing". The bath was cute, the tv ginormous and the bed cloud-like. The good kind. Also, the service was warm and friendly, which really seemed like the icing on the cake.

Fork

Fork was at Haiku this month. Pre-Fork was at Betty's with J. I love the Betty Page martini, extra dirty, of course. The Fork group was a little different this month. The ratio of old-timers to newbies was different. Some fun, interesting new folks and a bit more alcohol than usual was a switch. We were served a plate of sushi the size of my truck tire. Loved all of it and they have a great seaweed salad. The service was flawless. The different fruit-infused vodkas were lovely. I had a strawberry-pineapple infused vodka that the server recommended. It tasted like cotton candy.
Sound track: New Black Keys: Magic Potion. Likeit, but not as much as Thickfreakness.
D's cousin was a newbie. She has an iPhone. She kept putting it in my hand. I'm pretty sure she was a drug dealer in another life. The iPhone is a wonder. Almost wonderful enough to make me ignore my hatred of AT&T.
The drive home from the Short North was fun, since there were a few inches of snow. Honestly, though, you'd think it was raining frogs by the way people react. Dude, it is February in Ohio, of course it is going to snow.
I was passed the Fork for March. I am almost overwhelmed by the pressure. If more than 4 people show up, I'll be like Sally Fields at the Oscars. I am charged with selecting the next event, organizing and decorating the ceremonial fork. We discussed perhaps doing a 2-stage dinner, basically because we would feel guilty just having dessert for dinner. I was thinking of Pistachia Vera for dessert and whatever is close for dinner. I'll have to see what is around.
Tomorrow is finally Friday. Crazy week and I need to chill.
Phoebe is on my lap, claws extended and Mitzi is drinking my beer. Great Lakes Burning River since you asked.
Speaking of Great Lakes, we're going to the brewery Saturday followed by American Bang and Red Wanting Blue at House of Blues in Cleveland. I really hope I don't run into the guitar player for RWB. He was my guitar instructor and I feel like a big old loser for being a guitar lesson drop-out.
This week should be one day shorter. Today feels like a Friday, but that may be because I had too much caffeine at lunch and am wide-awake.

The single life

So, since Mr S is back on 2nd shift, I've devolved a few new habits. Dinner tonight was a leftover crab cake and leftover 911 wings with pinot grigio. I now am having vodka and a skinny cow iced cream sandwich. I am wearing a purple velour shirt with abominable snowman pj bottoms and fur-lined house shoes.
Valentine's day was spent on the phone with Lorence (co-worker, chef, blogger, the one with the pissed-off wife because their V Day dinner was destroyed due to major printer malfunctions.)
Friday was HH at the Liz. Really can't go wrong there. Got home and had a beer. Which I spilled on our light carpet the night before a showing. Yeah, the beer was an Atwater Vanilla Java Porter. So we break out the steam cleaner. Which leaves the carpet wet. So, when I walk into the kitchen, my feet fly out from under me and I land abruptly on the floor, ankle at an unnatural angle. Followed by Mr S yelling at me for falling. Thanks. Pain is always made better by annoyance.
Saturday, had pasta day with some friends. I love any day that has the premise of: cook all day and shoot pool and laugh and drink all day. Had a great time and got to know some friends a little bit better. Also came home with a fabulous goody bag of leftover pasta, sauce, bread and tiramisu.
Sunday was the perfect day. Mr S picked up night shift on Saturday, so I got to spend the day taking serial naps to the History Channel.
Went back to Pei Wei for dinner on Monday. Love the lettuce wraps (as good at PFC, without the 2-hour wait). Can't say I'm a fan of the Dan Dan. Mushy noodles are bad. So far, all I really like are the lettuce wraps and the wonderful chai iced tea w/cinnamon and vanilla.
I'd like to pause and thank Blogger for auto-saving. I had one of those "NNNNOOOOOOO!!!" moments when an unfortunate keystroke combination closed Firefox unexpectedly.
Went to Costco to get oranges and cereal tonight. Came home with $137 worth of food.
I have been working my way through Queer as Folk. Tonight, I watched the second-to-last episode. This is such a great series (thanks MLB for the suggestion!). It had the easy hook: lots and lots of super-hot men in varying states of undress. After watching all 5 seasons, it feels like I know the characters. They embraced their roles completely, so the bad reviews I heard about season 5 didn't deter me. I really don't mind them tying up loose ends and giving in to the plot lines they've been pandering to for the entire series. Hooray! Brian and Justin are getting married! Hooray! Hooray! Lindsay and Mel got back together. Hooray! Michael didn't die! I cried when Hunter left and when he came back. Often silly, always true-to himself and everyone else, always fabulous Emmett, remained my fave to the end. Please, please , please Netflix, let your mailbox be wings and bring me disc 5 so I can see the final episode!
Tomorrow is Fork. J and I are knocking back a few martunis at Rojo before dinner at Haiku. I am so ashamed I can't find the joke in that. Wait! I may have it:

Drinks at Rojo bar
Hit the spot before sushi
I am ready now

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate poetry? More than I hate lavender. Ok. Time to go. I hear there is a lunar eclipse tonight. And Phoebe is chewing on the curtains.

Eau D'Fogey

Around the hospital there are many odors. Today has been unusual in that there is an overwhelming aroma of old man. I think somebody has purchased some perfume that they think smells good, but really smells like my grandfather. The live one, fortunately, but still.
perhaps there is an unfortunate combination of flowers around the lab.

Happy V Day!

Philosophically, I am opposed to Valentine’s Day because it is the cheapening and commercialization of the most important state we strive to attain. In reality, though, I know that every year Mr S is going to get me a card (always with some furry animal) with something sweet written inside, which is going to put a smile on my face and give me the warm fuzzies. So basically I think it serves as a small reminder to slow down and take some time to think sweet thoughts about the one you love. So happy Valentine’s Day!

On a separate note, I was dumbfounded at the selection of valentine's day cards. There were 2 types: So sappy they were icky and those with farts, urine, back hair and gorillas. Who buys that shit?!?

Update: Mr S sent me some lovely roses. As cynical as I get about V day, the girly girl hidden deep inside me still is deeply pleased.

Impersonating a blogger

Well, it is now almost 3 months since my last post and I'm once again presented with a quandary: give up, catch up or move on? I think I gain some insight when I read back over old posts. Mostly I learn that I really should give this shit up. I haven’t the will to do it right, so I really shouldn’t give out the link. Just like I shouldn’t tell people I play guitar when I really only know ¾ of one song. (Tony Price Don’t You Think I Feel It, Too? In case you were wondering.) Should you also be curious how I can know only ¾ of a song, I keep forgetting one of the chords and I can’t find the stupid notebook from my 3 lessons because I stashed it away somewhere because prospective buyers were coming to look at our house. FYI- If you are thinking about selling your house, perhaps you should think again. Blecchh. Not the best time. Maybe by the time we get a buyer, we can be ready to retire and just go straight to the RV.

I’m going to try something new. I’m going to document what I’m listening to while posting. I want to see if the music influences my tone, content, swearing, whatever. Right now, the Best of J.J.Cale.

Here’s the short version. I won’t linger too long over the holidays; they are so last month.

Thanksgiving was the usual chaos, fitting 25 people in a tiny room (cake-walk-esque, except when someone gets up for seconds, everyone tries to steal their chair). Somehow felt like the memories of holidays I didn’t have. Mine were always either mom’s martyrdom or grinding my teeth until I could get home and have a drink. Funny how I’d give my right arm to have one of those now. “Youth is wasted on the young” might be the truest truism ever.

Tried a new hairdresser, Julie at Bliss, based on a Google search of “best hairdresser in Columbus, OH”.

The only hairdresser I’ve been happy with for the past few years lives in Austin. I go once a year, but until Skybus goes to Texas, I have to get my wig busted here.

Julie had a bunch of great ratings so I thought I’d give her a go. My previous hairdresser was really nice, but I’m trying to stop going to hairdressers because I like them. I’ve been down that road and eventually you just end up with a blotchy hair color and having to take the walk of shame to the next person. The only person I’ve ever seen that didn’t slam those who had cut before is my Austin girl (Mickey at Wet Salon on South Congress, FYI). Maybe it is the good mojo? No, I don’t think so. She has a knack of cutting 3 hairs and my hair is perfect, stylish (not styled) and stays great for 2 months. Anywho, I’m on my 3^rd Bliss visit and the jury is still out. I understand that the most flattering cut for a woman whose head is shaped like Charlie Brown’s is an angled bob, but I freaking hate bobs! I’d rather be a round and funky chubby 30-something than a boring 30-something chub. Again, I’m caught up in the whole liking thing. She’s fabulous. Really fun and interesting to talk to. Plus, the last time I saw her, she had just had this horrible personal tragedy: “Hey, yeah, sorry your life has been turned on its ear and will never be the same, but could you do something about my hair?” She could have given me a mullet with a spiky top and a perm in the back and I probably wouldn’t have been able to say anything. We’ll try again next time.

Switched to Nellie McKay Obligatory Villagers.

Mr. Stockula and I had Christmas the Saturday before the actual holiday. We had a great day (which was blocked out on the calendar as a day that was for us, so that was nice. We got up, he made me chorizo and eggs, we opened presents and I think we took a nap and then I cooked dinner (ham, Threadgills spinach casserole and pumpkin poblano corn casserole, followed by, of course, Just Pies Pumpkin Pie). I think we should make sure we have a “couple day” around the holidays every year. It is a good way to make it picture-perfect. If you don’t have kids, you need to justify everything you do over the holidays.

Phoebe is trying to stuff herself in the gap between the wall and my old, red monolithic filing cabinet. Why? Who knows? This gap is 1.5”. She is not. She is now acting embarrassed. I love when cats are embarrassed. Seem fitting since cats are such snobby bitches.

Christmas eve plans to bake some tasty treats were hijacked by my stupid oven catching on fire and cleaning up fire-extinguisher residue for 3 hours.

On Christmas Day, I went to my Aunt’s house. A synopsis:

Dance, Dance Revolution.

Kids with PhD’s.

Brazillian actress.

Parrot attack.

A mastiff.

Terducken.

Blue mashed potatoes.

Glass of vino and Beerfest when I got home.

Ah. Deck the Halls.

Met D for dinner at RJ Snappers in the Short North. Oh mama. Loved dinner at RJ! I had Caramelized Sea Scallops and D had Potato Crusted Florida Grouper. Both were very tasty, well-presented by a funny server. Sorry to say this, but one of the great things about RJ is the fact that for dessert, you can walk out the door, cross the street and be at Jeni’s. Mmmm Kentucky Bourbon Eggnog iced cream. I went back the next day for Cranberry Sorbet Royale. OMG, just looked at the menu to get the exact names and saw Lapshong Souchang with Armagnac Prunes. Lapshong Souchang is a tea Mr Stockula used to drink, I swear just to bug me. The first time he had it, I was freaking out because I smelled burned plastic. Nope, it was the tea. Next time, I thought one of the cats was trying to send a message. Turns out the only message was that this tea smelled like shit. From then on, “Ass Tea”. I don’t believe I will be making a trip to Jeni’s for “Ass Tea with Prunes”. I’m sure there is a funnier joke in there, but I can’t find it. Gilding the lily?

New Years was happy. As in Happy Hour. We went to the Lizard for beer and wings, but they closed at 5:00pm. Bastards. We decided to have a drink at Champps to decide where we wanted to have a drink. 2 hours later, we went home. Watched some tv. I woke up at 12:03am. Snork. Hey Honey. Happy New Year. Rmmmfdfoppsh. Snore. Football next day. Welcome 2008. Myeh. Whatever.

Now listening to Damnations Half Mad Moon. Favorite Austin live band when we lived there. Had the bad manners to break up without telling me. Like they knew who the hell I was. Still in my top 5 fave cds of all time for ability to put me in a good groove within 1 song. Amy and Deborah are probably the reason I harbor rock-star fantasies.

Off to Ft Myers Fl with grandma to visit my aunt.

The Good: I try to enjoy every minute with my grandma. She’s 82 and charming and wonderful. My Aunt is also fabulous, trying to make it in the Florida senior set real estate business. She has a great house and I really like this whole lanai thing. Aside from keeping the pterodactyl bugs and crocks out, it is a wonderful thing to walk out from the kitchen with your coffee in the morning to sit in the breezes and watch the fogeys teeing off. My vocabulary was enhanced. Hee hee. I thought golf was relaxing. The weather was 80 degrees with no humidity. Went to Thomas Edison and Henry Ford's Winter Estates. Very satisfying to the lab geek and amateur photo hack in me.

Squirrel says hi!

Mr Edison and the Cool "Walking Something-or-Other Tree"

Labs are awesome!

Lanais are a good thing, too.Dark, broody picture. as dark and broody as you can get in FL at 81deg F.


Bougainvillea.
Obligatory Pallm tree shot.

The Bad: My legs were so white and I didn’t quite have my sunless-tanner talents honed. Aunt and G were so helpful, I was left feeling like they saw me as the Special Ed member of the family. Seriously, I know how to use a light switch. Also, I was slapped into place when I asked if G would like more turkey on her sandwich, as there were 3 wafer-thin slivers, I wanted to make sure I didn’t short-change her. As my aunt put 3 slices back, I realized I needed to reel in my wasteful ways.

The Ugly: every server we ran into was a complete dick, tool, asshole. I really need to work on my insult vocab. Nothing pisses me off or makes me feel manipulated like a self-fulfilling prophecy. The server is a jerk because he assumes 3 generations of women will tip him poorly. Well, one of them, thank you very much, was a server for a long freaking time and is not only going to give you a shitty tip; she’s going to feel bad about it. How do you…like..that…

Fork for January was at Tucci’s in Dublin. Like Martini’s, a dangerous happy hour. They had a $5 martini and bar food list. From the selection of food we had, that could be a real bargain, which could explain why they were so packed. The apps were good. I particularly enjoyed their antipasta plate. I had never had a caper berry. Pow Zoom! The blackened scallops with gorgonzola were also great. I liked my entrée: Pan-seared Sea Bass with Pinenut Gremolata and Vermouth S auce. A lovely surprise was the Grilled Shrimp with Lemon Risotto. Sometimes grilled shrimp transcends. I can’t explain it and I certainly can’t predict when it will happen. Service was flawless, especially for a group of 15 women. There a re a few of the women who I really would like to see outside of the confines of Fork, but I haven’t figured out how.

Met D and J at Haiku for sushi. Love the Crunchy Buckeye roll. Obviously authentic Japanese. The calamari salad promised magic but delivered nothing. The nigiri was friendly and competent and the server was fresh. Wait. Reverse that. Had lovely and sparkling conversation with the girls.

Drug R to the Newport to see Louis XIV (opening for Hot Hot Heat and the Editors). She is such a good sport and really fun to go to a concert with.

Louis XIV did not disappoint. The lead singer has an Angus Young thing crossed with the dude from Black Crowes, very interesting to watch. The bass player did the un-bass-player-like move of attracting attention to himself as a sexual object. Good thing he was smoking hot. Hot Hot Heat, while competent and enthusiastic, should have been the opening act. They reminded me of OAR, college band with a decent following. I had only heard one or two Editors songs. I was completely blown away. The beginning had me a little concerned, very dark onstage, lead singer in a hooded sweatshirt, hood up. No worries, though. The lead singer had an amazing, resonant voice, like the guy from Crash Test Dummies. The set built to an amazing energy. Can’t quite describe it other than bouncy bouncy concert happy.

Re-playing Damnations.

Met R and A at Barley’s on Riverside for and hour of happiness. Was a lovely time. I’m still trying to figure out where I fit with the group. I hope it settles soon. Too much stress. Had the pleasant surprise of the chicken wings, They were grilled, tasty and the Gates of Hell sauce was more than adequate.

Went to lunch w/ Mr Stockula. Needed something quick, so we headed to Carfagna’s Kitchen, which was closed on Sundays. So, across the street we went to Pei Wei, P.F. Chang’s casual little brother. Note to self: You do not need to order the phad thai extra spicy!!! Your innards thank you. Seriously. The phad thai was a little heavy on the soy sauce, but ok. Mr S had S&S Chicken, which was surprisingly good for such a pedestrian dish. They had a really great iced tea, black tea with vanilla and cinnamon. Of course this was not their fault, but the place was Romper Room. Please folks, if your children can’t sit in their seats and eat, the proper response is not to yell after them as they are running down the aisle for the 10^th time: “If you waste any more of my time, we won’t be able to get ice cream!!”, while asking them loudly “what did you learn at church today?” Perhaps, may I make a suggestion? If you can’t keep your kids in their seats and stop yelling at them to the detriment of my lunch, you should go back to the McD’s with the playground where you both belong?!?

Next Fork is at Haiku. All the “I won’t eat raw fish” girls are getting kinda snarky.

Soundtrack: Police Be My Girl, Ray Price Crazy Arms, Scabs Tarantula. Widespread Panic Blue Indian. Amy Mann Ray.