Saturday Ramblings
Yesterday was two days at once. It was the fifth anniversary of Charlie's death and the birthday of the esteemed former roomie, ziactrice. Luckily she's a good sport and we were able to celebrate both occasions in a fitting manner.
First we celebrated her birthday hobbit fashion - she showed up at my door with a box filled with 14 volumes of the Family Circle illustrated cookbooks. Vintage 1960s era cookbooks with lots of luridly colored pictures and ways to use gelatin and mayonnaise, often in the same dish. Think Lilek's Gallery of Regrettable Food interspersed with childhood comfort foods. Great present for a cookbook collector. Then we headed out, stopping at the store to pick up a Classic Coke, a Payday candy bar and a pack of cigarettes. (No, neither of us has taken up smoking.) Then we drove to Forest Park Lawndale and I laid the items out in front of the tombstone as a modern version of the Chinese spirit altars to the ancestors - figuring Charlie would appreciate his favorite soda and candy bar and a pack of smokes more than oranges and bits of red paper.
We had considered going to Red Sushi in Kemah, but a couple of bad reviews made us rethink that plan. Instead we headed for Spec's liquor warehouse and a restaurant called Ibiza, in the Neartown district just south of downtown. Ibiza was closed until 5pm (it was around 2) so on to plan, what, C? Went to Van Loc, a block from my old house (now gone to parking lots)and had yummy Vietnamese food. Roast chicken with fried sweet rice cakes. Imperial rolls with romaine lettuce and cilantro. Seafood medley with mushrooms. Good stuff. Then since we were right next to the High Fashion fabrics store we went in to look at fabric and patterns. I had changed into my "decaf is the mindkiller" t-shirt, based on the "Fear is the mindkiller" mantra from Dune and someone asked (since I was bent over pattern books) if I'd straighten up so they could finish reading my t-shirt. They thought it was funny but obviously did NOT get the Dune connection.
Stopped at Specs, I got Sumatran coffee and some neat little Tea filters for creating your own teabags with bulk tea, produced by the Melitta company. ziactrice got her traditional birthday bottle of whiskey, and a few other indulgences. I'd grabbed a couple of bottles of ice tea, and we drank those as we headed back out of town to the 'burbs. Stopped at Walgreens to pick up earplugs, since we'd decided to go see a movie and the last half dozen times at the movies the volume had been loud enough to cause pain. Discussion of the relative merits of various movies available led to the decision to see Hellboy II: The Golden Army.
Hellboy II is a wonderful movie. Not just because I love Ron Perlman either, although that doesn't hurt. Nice subplot with the aquaman Abe, a morally ambiguous villain, a bitterweet ending and the triumph of true love. Plus Guillermo Del Toro, slightly restrained but still very visually opulent.
Then to Gringo's for tacos and Cabo salad. It was a wonderful day, if a little tiring.
Today I have to run a couple of loads of laundry, go by the school to send lecture notes for my Monday and Tuesday classes, and then head out to Bagels to pick up some yarn. I'm picking up ziactrice enroute so we can get her back to her car, which got left at my place last night. Then fall down go boom.
First we celebrated her birthday hobbit fashion - she showed up at my door with a box filled with 14 volumes of the Family Circle illustrated cookbooks. Vintage 1960s era cookbooks with lots of luridly colored pictures and ways to use gelatin and mayonnaise, often in the same dish. Think Lilek's Gallery of Regrettable Food interspersed with childhood comfort foods. Great present for a cookbook collector. Then we headed out, stopping at the store to pick up a Classic Coke, a Payday candy bar and a pack of cigarettes. (No, neither of us has taken up smoking.) Then we drove to Forest Park Lawndale and I laid the items out in front of the tombstone as a modern version of the Chinese spirit altars to the ancestors - figuring Charlie would appreciate his favorite soda and candy bar and a pack of smokes more than oranges and bits of red paper.
We had considered going to Red Sushi in Kemah, but a couple of bad reviews made us rethink that plan. Instead we headed for Spec's liquor warehouse and a restaurant called Ibiza, in the Neartown district just south of downtown. Ibiza was closed until 5pm (it was around 2) so on to plan, what, C? Went to Van Loc, a block from my old house (now gone to parking lots)and had yummy Vietnamese food. Roast chicken with fried sweet rice cakes. Imperial rolls with romaine lettuce and cilantro. Seafood medley with mushrooms. Good stuff. Then since we were right next to the High Fashion fabrics store we went in to look at fabric and patterns. I had changed into my "decaf is the mindkiller" t-shirt, based on the "Fear is the mindkiller" mantra from Dune and someone asked (since I was bent over pattern books) if I'd straighten up so they could finish reading my t-shirt. They thought it was funny but obviously did NOT get the Dune connection.
Stopped at Specs, I got Sumatran coffee and some neat little Tea filters for creating your own teabags with bulk tea, produced by the Melitta company. ziactrice got her traditional birthday bottle of whiskey, and a few other indulgences. I'd grabbed a couple of bottles of ice tea, and we drank those as we headed back out of town to the 'burbs. Stopped at Walgreens to pick up earplugs, since we'd decided to go see a movie and the last half dozen times at the movies the volume had been loud enough to cause pain. Discussion of the relative merits of various movies available led to the decision to see Hellboy II: The Golden Army.
Hellboy II is a wonderful movie. Not just because I love Ron Perlman either, although that doesn't hurt. Nice subplot with the aquaman Abe, a morally ambiguous villain, a bitterweet ending and the triumph of true love. Plus Guillermo Del Toro, slightly restrained but still very visually opulent.
Then to Gringo's for tacos and Cabo salad. It was a wonderful day, if a little tiring.
Today I have to run a couple of loads of laundry, go by the school to send lecture notes for my Monday and Tuesday classes, and then head out to Bagels to pick up some yarn. I'm picking up ziactrice enroute so we can get her back to her car, which got left at my place last night. Then fall down go boom.