Thursday, March 30, 2006
Rob Thomas Ain't the Only One
Called Mom's doctor today. His on-hold music? Matchbox 20's "Unwell."
Sunday, March 26, 2006
A Lovely Weekend
After a week-long unseasonable cold snap, it finally feels like spring. Mountain laurel in bloom, perfect temps and blue skies. March & April weather make the rest of the year in south Texas worthwhile. Life's worth celebrating for other reasons, too:
1. Mom. The cancer hasn't spread to her chest or liver, but the CAT scan revealed an orange-sized tumor. We'll meet with the oncologist tomorrow to see where we go from here.
2. New Beginnings. San Antonio had five grand movie palaces in the 1920s. All five have now been restored to their former glory. (Well, OK, four-and-a-half -- all but the front of the Texas Theater was destroyed by a bank in the 1980s, but when the bank went under, Southwestern Bell bought the building and restored the facade. It's now AT&T corporate headquarters. How many Fortune 50 companies have a ticket booth outside?) The last to be restored, the Aztec, will open on 4/1. I went on a behind the scenes tour of the building yesterday morning. It's spectacular. Check out the renovation photos. And on the way back to my car, I signed a petition to get Kinky Friedman on the gubernatorial ballot.
3. Work. I get to go to this, as part of my job. I've worked in very tightly-wound corporate environments since I was 24. Yet I've always held very un-corporate positions. I like being on the Island of Misfit Toys; it suits me. I'm convinced that if I ever get an MBA, part of me will die.
4. Sunday Food. I needed brunch today. Madeleine Peyroux on the CD player, and the following served up piping hot:
Baked Eggs in Ham Cups:
Ingredients: 2 slices Black Forest or Virginia Ham
2 large eggs
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Fit a slice of ham into 2 lightly oiled muffin cups (ends will stick up and hang over edges of cups). Leave as is or add whatever you want (I added leftover spinach-artichoke dip and Monterey Jack cheese.) Crack open an egg in each cup. Top with chives. Bake in middle of oven until whites are cooked but yolks are still runny, about 15 minutes. Season eggs with salt and pepper and remove (with ham) from muffin cups carefully, using 2 spoons or small spatulas.
And, to end a lazy afternoon, I had the following:
Mango Ginger Margarita
Muddle 2 thin slices of peeled fresh ginger with 1 tsp. of sugar. Add 3 tbsp. of tequila, 3 tbsp. mango nectar, 1 tbsp. fresh lime juice, ½ tsp. of Cointreau and ice. Shake well and strain into martini glass.
I'm a margarita purist. No sweet & sour mix, no egg whites -- just lime juice, Cointreau and 100% blue agave tequila, none of that "agave extract' crap. But the above recipe could convert me. It's not too sweet, not too tart, and the color is a gorgeous taxicab/Crayola box yellow. Just looking at it makes me happy.
Dusted Strawberries
In a small dish, mix ground cardamom and sugar until it's the color of sand. In another dish, pour a small amount of Cointreau. Dip strawberries in Cointreau, then in the sugar mixture. MMMMmmmmm!
1. Mom. The cancer hasn't spread to her chest or liver, but the CAT scan revealed an orange-sized tumor. We'll meet with the oncologist tomorrow to see where we go from here.
2. New Beginnings. San Antonio had five grand movie palaces in the 1920s. All five have now been restored to their former glory. (Well, OK, four-and-a-half -- all but the front of the Texas Theater was destroyed by a bank in the 1980s, but when the bank went under, Southwestern Bell bought the building and restored the facade. It's now AT&T corporate headquarters. How many Fortune 50 companies have a ticket booth outside?) The last to be restored, the Aztec, will open on 4/1. I went on a behind the scenes tour of the building yesterday morning. It's spectacular. Check out the renovation photos. And on the way back to my car, I signed a petition to get Kinky Friedman on the gubernatorial ballot.
3. Work. I get to go to this, as part of my job. I've worked in very tightly-wound corporate environments since I was 24. Yet I've always held very un-corporate positions. I like being on the Island of Misfit Toys; it suits me. I'm convinced that if I ever get an MBA, part of me will die.
4. Sunday Food. I needed brunch today. Madeleine Peyroux on the CD player, and the following served up piping hot:
Baked Eggs in Ham Cups:
Ingredients: 2 slices Black Forest or Virginia Ham
2 large eggs
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Fit a slice of ham into 2 lightly oiled muffin cups (ends will stick up and hang over edges of cups). Leave as is or add whatever you want (I added leftover spinach-artichoke dip and Monterey Jack cheese.) Crack open an egg in each cup. Top with chives. Bake in middle of oven until whites are cooked but yolks are still runny, about 15 minutes. Season eggs with salt and pepper and remove (with ham) from muffin cups carefully, using 2 spoons or small spatulas.
And, to end a lazy afternoon, I had the following:
Mango Ginger Margarita
Muddle 2 thin slices of peeled fresh ginger with 1 tsp. of sugar. Add 3 tbsp. of tequila, 3 tbsp. mango nectar, 1 tbsp. fresh lime juice, ½ tsp. of Cointreau and ice. Shake well and strain into martini glass.
I'm a margarita purist. No sweet & sour mix, no egg whites -- just lime juice, Cointreau and 100% blue agave tequila, none of that "agave extract' crap. But the above recipe could convert me. It's not too sweet, not too tart, and the color is a gorgeous taxicab/Crayola box yellow. Just looking at it makes me happy.
Dusted Strawberries
In a small dish, mix ground cardamom and sugar until it's the color of sand. In another dish, pour a small amount of Cointreau. Dip strawberries in Cointreau, then in the sugar mixture. MMMMmmmmm!
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Weekday Weirdness 2, Electric Booglaoo
What is it about Texas that has attracted off-the-wall news lately? In the wake of the Vice President's "Most Dangerous Game," we get these two gems:
1. Miss Deaf Texas struck and killed by oncoming train. I'll just give y'all a moment to mull over that one.
2. Here's a sentence I hope I never have to utter in the course of my job: "Cows started being deposited on the highway." So said Seguin, TX policewoman Maureen Watson. This is what happened Wednesday night:
1. Miss Deaf Texas struck and killed by oncoming train. I'll just give y'all a moment to mull over that one.
2. Here's a sentence I hope I never have to utter in the course of my job: "Cows started being deposited on the highway." So said Seguin, TX policewoman Maureen Watson. This is what happened Wednesday night:
- The gate fell open on an 18-wheeler hauling cattle.
- Several cows hit the road. Some were hit, some were dragged. You get the picture.
- DPS troopers start to clear the scene, carting off the dead cattle and rounding up the live ones.
- Just then, a pickup reported as stolen plows through the carnage.
- A chase ensues. The thieves abandon the pickup and run into the brush along the highway.
- Two police cars stop and the officers catch the criminals.
- Nope, it's not over yet. When the officers return the prisoners to the patrol cars, they discover that heat from the engines has sparked a grass fire, torching both vehicles.
Uh-huh. Cattle, fire and and a high-speed police chase. Do we Texans know how to throw a barbecue or what?
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Rant & Rave
Rant:
Every single frickenfracken doctor is on Spring Break. We're waiting on the results of Mom's tests, but her surgeon, GP, and oncologist are all out of town this week. God bless Mom, though, she's taking it well. Her reaction? "Jeez, I'd hate to be really sick over Spring Break!"
Rave:
A while back I wrote about the impending demise of Earl Abel's, a San Antonio landmark. Good news today -- it's been saved!
Every single frickenfracken doctor is on Spring Break. We're waiting on the results of Mom's tests, but her surgeon, GP, and oncologist are all out of town this week. God bless Mom, though, she's taking it well. Her reaction? "Jeez, I'd hate to be really sick over Spring Break!"
Rave:
A while back I wrote about the impending demise of Earl Abel's, a San Antonio landmark. Good news today -- it's been saved!
Friday, March 10, 2006
"..."
The world has turned upside down; Mom was just diagnosed with cancer. Even at my most eloquent, I couldn't begin to describe the effect she's had on everyone she's known. We've spent the past couple days getting tests and meeting with doctors. She's 81, so I don't know how much she can take physically. But emotionally and mentally, she's as strong as they come. We'll just see what happens next.
The surgeon gave her a colorful pamphlet about what to expect, and I couldn't help but laugh. The illustrator had made the two patients in the booklet look exactly like Dubya and Spiro Agnew. I love the idea that there's a low-paid cartoonist somewhere getting his jollies by drawing conservatives in hospital gowns.
The surgeon gave her a colorful pamphlet about what to expect, and I couldn't help but laugh. The illustrator had made the two patients in the booklet look exactly like Dubya and Spiro Agnew. I love the idea that there's a low-paid cartoonist somewhere getting his jollies by drawing conservatives in hospital gowns.
Monday, March 06, 2006
For Your Consideration
If you ever decide to have an Oscar(TM) party, forego warming up the crowd with clips of previous Best Pictures. Instead, play the Action series DVD. It's cynical, bawdy, and ten times funnier than Rob Lowe's duet with Snow White.
