Adventures in Gastronomy

Yesterday’s snowfall was wet and heavy…making for a very pretty snowfall. Even a day later the snow is still clinging to tree limbs and railings making for quite the lovely background for a morning commute.

Randy and I had one of our most relaxing weekends in a long while. We had no plans for Friday night and spent it together on the sofa watching movies. On Saturday, we went to a movie. Believe it or not, this was only the second movie we’ve gone to together. The first one was Shortbus….nearly 14 months ago. This weekend we saw Juno – and we both highly recommend it (despite the fact that everybody else and their mother has probably already seen it). The dialogue was quick and witty and the acting was great. The main character, Ellen Page, was flawless. She has quite a future ahead of her.

On Sunday, Randy and I ventured out west to visit my brother and his family. We had lunch in Northampton before going to Paul’s and giving my niece and nephew my old Nintendo Game Cube. Nick seemed to absolutely love it, Katie got frustrated, and Paul seemed to enjoy a few games, too. And Heidi, well, I’ve not seen heidi look this good in over two years. She was talking and she was even walking (with the aid of her walker). I couldn’t believe my eyes. She said that she can’t remember a single thing about the two months she was in the hospital back in November/December (which is a good thing). But her recovery has been nothing short of miraculous.

January 15th, 2008
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 2 Comments

…to watch new programs on television! I have mixed emotions about the whole thing, though. Typically, i’m a TV whore (no, not a transvestite whore, but a television whore). I’m addicted to my stories and look forward to them. Hell, some of my earliest and fondest memories of my relationship with Randy involve Thursday nights of marathon program viewing on the DVR (some sofa snuggling, some ice cream).

But then the writer’s strike started in November. By mid December there were no new shows airing. The DVR ceased recording and I needed to find other things to occupy my time. Fortunately, it coincided with the holidays so I was distracted by many other things. Then Christmas actually came (and went) and Santa got me a Wii game system.

Then all of a sudden last night the networks began airing the last few original shows they had (I guess they were saving them to boost ratings in the new year instead of running them all in 2007). And it was fun! Ugly Betty was back in my life (oh, how I missed you, Betty). And Grey’s Anatomy reminded me of how annoying Grey is (dump her, Mr. McDempsey).

But it also reminded me that I was capable of entertaining myself without a television for the past month. And after the first week, I really wasn’t missing the shows all that much. I wouldn’t say I’ve been more active during that time (though, I have been going to the gym more and getting together with friends a wee bit more and did a bit of travel) but I’d say that I found other ways to keep myself occupied. And that’s a good thing.

Is TV draining the life out of me? Is it squelching my creativity and drive? Is it limiting me? I know that there are only a few new shows left so I shouldn’t fall back into a TV-addicted pattern any time soon. There are probably only two or three more weeks of original programing left…if that.

OOOH – but then Big Brother is coming back! And the Biggest Loser is already back! And we have new episodes of 30 Rock and My Name is Earl on the DVR (from last night).

Ugh – who am I kidding….just insert the cable wire straight into my arm like an IV and let’s get it over with.

January 11th, 2008
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 5 Comments

Deano came over last night for some Scrabble (of course, we tossed in some Wii play, too). For the first time in our Tuesday ritual, Randy was actually around to join us (he’s normally traveling for work). Normally I do poorly in Scrabble when I’m playing against more than one person (yet I do well with just one competitor….go figure). And last night started off the same. Deano’s first word was “nixes”…and he used the “x” on a triple-letter score. But in the end, I managed to squeak ahead, thanks to my big “size” (triple letter on the “z”).

I had another reason for going to sleep happy….Cocky Romney (I mean, Mitt Romney) was toppled by John McCain last night in the New Hampshire primary! In recent weeks, Romney had been so cocky about New Hampshire (“I have a home there. I’m a local”). Well, looks like your neighbors don’t like you, buddy!

January 9th, 2008
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 1 Comment

Keep your minds out of the gutter people. Today my title refers to the fact that I’m keeping up a photo of Chris and Randy playing with Wii since, well, that’s what I did last night: played with Wii. Of course, last night it was me and Randy. But without anybody else around there was nobody to take a new photo.

The Wii is pretty fun. By far, the boxing game requires the most exercise. That’s the only one that can actually leave me a bit winded. What a brilliant concept to make a video game that actually requires physical activity!

A friend this past weekend suggested that Nintendo should make a Wii game for sex (since you would literally have to go through the motions). Could be fun…and you wouldn’t have to snuggle afterwards (though I’m sure you’d get extra points if you did).

Hmmm – come to think of it, maybe my blog title has more relevance than I’d thought?

January 8th, 2008
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: Comments Off on Keeping It Up!

Despite both Randy and me still fighting our colds, wii had a fun weekend. Friends came over Friday night for dinner and games (first a game of cards, then various games on the Wii). The photo above is of Chris and Randy playing the boxing game. Good times.

On Saturday we ran some errands during the day then got together with two more friends that night for another dinner…and more games (Wii and then Cranium….more good times).

Finally, on Sunday we slept late (FINALLY), ran a few more errands, went to the gym (ugh) and then got invited to our third dinner of the weekend. This time, we left Somerville, went to Brookline (via Cambridge and Boston), then had Cincinnatti chili! Look at that – world travel in just one meal!

All in all, a fun weekend. Alas, all good things must come to an end. It’s now Monday and Randy is still unemployed. Well, not really – he still has that offer. But while I slave away at the office, he’s at home watching ER and other shows he recorded on the DVR.

Life isn’t fair.

January 7th, 2008
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 4 Comments

So Randy went in for his exit interview yesterday. He brought in all of his equipment (computer, monitor, fax, etc…) since he worked from home. In the end, HR officially offered him the other job if he wants it and said he needn’t bother return the equipment until he makes a decision.

He has until January 18th to decide whether to take the new management job or take the severence package. Decisions, decisions. So for the next two weeks he gets to stay on an extended paid vacation. Lucky bastard. Meanwhile, I’m breaking my back to support our household as the only gainfully employed partner.

Yeah, right!

January 4th, 2008
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 3 Comments

It’s been nearly two weeks since I’ve blogged (a record for me) so I’ve got lots to catch up on. And when I say lots, I mean LOTS (especially towards the end so if things get boring in the beginning, keep reading for the real drama)! Now, to make things as brief as possible, here goes:

Randy and I celebrated our Christmas with each other on Saturday morning (December 22). Very few things were exchanged this year. On Sunday we had brunch with some friends before heading to the Cape to celebrate Christmas with my family. We went to a party Christmas Eve, had a nice light meal on Christmas Day, then drove back to Boston, caught a plane, and flew out to Los Angeles.

It was great reuniting with my old best friend (and college room mate), Jeff, and his partner, Paul. They’ve got a lovely condo in Irvine (Orange County….about 35-40 miles south of Los Angeles). All in all, we caught up on old times and played tourist throughout the region: Irvine, Laguna Beach, Corona del Mar, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills (surprisingly unimpressive with mostly ugly 50’s-60’s era mega-ranches), Mulholland Drive, Griffith Observatory, and Rodeo Drive (not so much a drive as it is a short 2-3 blocks).

As I expected, I wasn’t fond of Los Angeles at all – it felt like one giant strip mall filled with horrible architecture and SUV’s. Orange County was quite nice, though – especially the coastal areas like Laguna Beach and Corona del Mar. I could see myself living in those places, actually.

The next two days were spent in the Palm Springs area. The first day we toured downtown Palm Springs (kind of a let down) and the second day we toured Joshua Tree National Park (beautiful). We stayed in nearby Palm Desert and on the last night discovered that town had an impressively lovely shopping and dining area that was even nicer than Rodeo Drive in LA.

On New Years Eve (morning) we drove through the desert to Scottsdale, AZ. The historic downtown was a HUGE disappointment, but we’ve been told that the town is 35 miles wide and that other areas are better (I’ll have to take their word). We went to a New Year’s Eve party at the house of Randy’s friend, Dan. The house was a custom built 3,000 square foot residence (three thousand feet!!!!!) in a private gated community with two attached garages (one on each wing of the house), 3 bedrooms, an office, 3 (or more – I couldn’t tell) bathrooms, and an in-ground pool. All purchased and built for $240K. In Phoenix, that’s a typical house. In Boston, that’s a multi-million dollar mansion.

Anyway, the party was fun and the next day we met up two more of Randy’s friends and went to Papagos Park – a desert park with red rocks you can climb. Interesting stuff.

Here’s where the drama unfolds. We flew home Tuesday night – arriving back in Boston Wednesday (yesterday) just after 1:00AM. Around 10:00AM Randy’s boss called.

…and laid him off.

Happy New Year!

He had nothing bad to say about Randy – just that they wanted to go in a different direction with the position (typical corporate speak).

By 8:00PM, his former boss at the same company called from Japan to offer Randy another job at the same company (just a different department)! Yep, fired and potentially re-hired in the same day. Now Randy is going into the office today to return his laptop and to go through the exit interview…and also to discuss the new position (which he hasn’t accepted yet).

Exciting stuff!

January 3rd, 2008
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 2 Comments

26.9!

Twenty six point nine! That’s how many inches of snow that has fallen in Boston despite the fact that winter hasn’t even officially started yet. That’s already nearly 10 inches more than we had all of last winter. Mother Nature sure is playing a cruel trick on us.

Oh, and to top it all off, Deano kicked my ass in Scrabble on Tuesday night. We played two games. I won the first game by what I thought was a handsome margin (I was just under 300 and he was about 240). Then the second game began and he made two words that used up all of his letters (a 50 point bonus…times 2). Slinkier and Tardiest are my least favorite words this week.

It didn’t help that the last 7 letters I had in my hand after retrieving the final ones from the bag were H, J, X, V, Q, Z, and R. Seriously – who thought that was even possible? I had no consonants at all and six of the letters with the highest point value to be stuck with when Deano goes out with nearly 400 points.

At one point toward the beginning of the game I had all vowels (everything but the U).

And there was one final trick that fate played on me this week. I got home from work last night and, with Randy away on business, shoveled the driveway and sidewalk. There was about 4 inches of snow…fortunately light and fluffy….but I still sweated up a storm and entered the house wet and cranky.

Wouldn’t you know that not 10 minutes after settling in, Randy shows up at the door having caught an earlier flight. Of course I was thrilled to see him home early…but couldn’t he have at least arrived BEFORE I did all of the shoveling myself?

Santa better be good to me, dammit.

December 21st, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 3 Comments

Ok, Hollywood, so I’m coming to your city next week and I need some help. You see, It seems that your studios are incapable of making a movie set in modern Boston that doesn’t focus on an adrenalized overblown seedy side of the city. For example, the most recent mainstream movies I recall having been filmed here are “Mystic River”, “Gone Baby, Gone”, and “The Departed.”

Randy and I just saw the latter the other night. I liked it…this sort of movie isn’t normally my cup of tea, but I was engaged throughout. But it sure painted Boston as the seediest, most crime-ridden city ever. I know we some history here, but this movie would make it seem that we’re losing state police officers to mob violence left-and right (by the end of that movie, I think at least 4 cops were killed in the line of duty…in the last few minutes alone). In reality, aside from the ongoing search for Whitey Buldger, I never hear of gangland style murders anymore.

Plus, you show people smoking up a storm in bars (yet we have a smoking ban), and you show people at a huge porn theatre (we have none….hell, we only have two strip clubs in the entire city).

So, Hollywood, could you do us a favor and shoot some films outside of Southie and Chelsea? I mean, the Back Bay is quite lovely. Beacon Hill could charm the shit out of you if you’d give it a chance. Maybe you could do for Boston what Woody Allen’s “Manhattan” does for New York City?

Wouldn’t the Public Garden be a lovely locale for a key scene in a romantic comedy? So go find out what Sandra Bullock or Meg Ryan are up to. I’ve not seen them in much lately. Hell, cast those two as the romantic couple (this is Massachusetts after all and it’s legal here).

December 19th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 11 Comments

In less than one week we’ve had two snow storms. I’ve shoveled and/or snow-blowed for both of them. Now we’re expecting yet another minor storm tomorrow night. Granted, it’s just a few inches, but Randy is traveling (again) and this means that he won’t be participating in the clean up.

With 17 inches having fallen since last Thursday, and with only 13 feet between our house and the next house (a space that is the driveway), there isn’t much space to put any more snow without lugging it all by shovel to the back yard (the driveway can accomodate at least 4 or 5 cars).

Now I get it: Karl = free labor.

December 18th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 3 Comments