Please note that all blog posts before 8 April 2007 were automatically imported from LiveJournal. To see the comments and any LiveJournal-specific extras such as polls and user icons, please find the source posting at http://brianenigma.livejournal.com/2005/09/Saturday started with a lot of cleaning and ended with some excellent food and company. The original plan was to have one of our famous painting parties, with a little BBQ thrown in as well, but the BBQ (and kitchen-type stuff) quickly took over the evening…and I am perfectly fine with that. Bethya made some BBQ'ed corn in a slightly different way then I have previously seen done–basically, without soaking it in water first. It did not burn and was very sweet. Liam and Stacy did an awesome job on some pasta salad. When I say “pasta salad,” do not get a mental image of the big plastic tub you can buy at the grocery store. It was fresh pasta, basil, really good olives, and I am sure a number of other things that my taste buds like but can't quite isolate. They also made some great cobbler later. David Kraft made some great chicken and fish (of which I only got a little bite), but they were really good. I still need to get some practice in grilling meat. I have been using grills off-and-on for years, but have never really gotten beyond kabobs, burgers, and the basic chicken breast.
Earlier in the day, I got a call asking if someone could invite her friend-with-dog. I guess the friend does not like to leave her little chihuahua home alone or something. My first thought was to cringe — what flashed into my mind was the stereotypical Newport Beach kind of person who would take their little dog to a party, typically in a little purse. Cara (hopefully spelled correctly) turned out to be quite cool — and her little dog Cisco, too. It was actually rather funny because the dog is smaller than Ebenezer, who stalked it out of curiosity. Ebenezer is typically pretty friendly, even with the neighbor cat that does not like him too much. The dog was a little bit afraid of The Neeze (I just made that up), though. As long as the dog did not know (like when his butt was being sniffed), things were fine–but when they got face to face, some growling arose.
Sunday was all about cleaning and relaxing. I had plans to go with Dave, Bethya, and Brian driving around town. I got up at 7:30-ish, got a short back massage, then fell unconscious until noon-ish. In the morning (err… afternoon, at that point), we feasted upon leftover pasta salad (that stuff really was good!) We could not think of a reason to go to Saturday Market, but did go to Powells. I got a few new (to me, but used) books, like How To Read a French Fry, Great British Cooking, and Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town. We also visited the rare book room. There, they had a $3500 first edition of Through The Looking Glass and $1100 first edition of The Time Machine. What really got me was the bible they had for purchase–dated in the late 1500's. We concluded the evening with some BBQ (veggie burgers and potatoes were tasty, the corn I failed to make correctly following Bethya's method of the previous evening) and DVDs.
Today, I was a consumer whore and bought pants, underwear, and a juicer. I think I really have graduated up a notch in waist size, but the measurement 32×32 makes me feel square. Is it just me, or does it feel a little uncomfortable, as a guy, to purchase underwear at the checkout island staffed entirely by girls?
The juicer is the best thing ever. It is not as difficult to clean as older modes I have seen. An apple + a lemon + some grapes + some water and ice == some of the best lemonade EVAR! It feels a little weird to put a lemon on there, rind and all, but you really do get a lot more flavor from it than you would from just the insides. I picked up a lot of organic vegetables, and now I am having fun experimenting with flavors. I wonder–can you juice meats or cheeses?
