South Beach Sunday

Gainesville

Good Mom, Good Mom! [pat pat pat on the head] It makes me so happy to hear you are keeping up with your routines, including NT and organ! You are an inspiration. Glad to hear you got some rain, too. We've had nothing since Alberto breezed through, but that was enough to make the azelea bushes perk up again. Those things are incredibly drought resistant, as we never water anything in the yard. Ditto out at FBR-- the azeleas always thrived, despite massive neglect. The magnolia trees still look pretty pathetic, though, and are still dropping large yellow leaves. Will take a lot more rain for them to recover.

We did something unusual today-- went out for lunch on a Sunday. We both slept late, and Bill had been wanting to try a new place downtown called South Beach that Barbara recommended. It's "South Beach" as in southern Florida, not the low-carb diet-- stuff like conch fritters and Cuban things. We had a heavenly appetizer of seared tuna with a pineaple/onion salsa, and sandwiches-- Bill an amazing Reuben, I a Cuban about 3 times as big as I could eat, with pork, ham, salami and swiss cheese. Nice low-key atmosphere with beautiful design details. We will definitely go back there again to explore further.

I still haven't found time to watch any DVDs. My mental jukebox has finally recovered a decent excerpt from famous Beethoven's famous Eroica Symphony, and it gets longer and clearer by the hour. I really thought tonight would be the night, but somehow the evening was subsumed by dinner and its aftermath rituals. A very nice Mexican beef stir fry (skirt steak, onions, green & jalapeno peppers with cumin, oregano and garlic in the oil) with cauli-rice. The cat was in heaven-- she is a major Beefeater.

Speaking of Carrot, suddenly it is the season to occupy the tube part of her condo. It's been at least a year since she occupied it, and I was wondering if she ever would again. What is it that tips her off that the time has come to Tube?

Did some more work on organizing the books in my office space. Comics stuff all has a home now, and a little space to grow. Poetry is looking for a new home, as is Shakespeare. I have a "To Read" shelf close at hand, and have stacked up over two feet of obsolete computer hardware and software manuals-- including some from my very first computer, a Toshiba 100 laptop. It is hard to imagine how primitive this thing was-- and what a revolution it made in my life! It had a tiny screen eighty characters wide and about 20 lines long. No graphics. No backlight. No hard drive. Ah, but it had a MODEM -- I could, if I was lucky, DIAL IN to the campus network, and keep working far into the night! Oh joy! And very soon, thanks to Genie, I could waste countless hours managing a text-based fantasy league baseball game (team: the Twisters; coach: Rocker) Ah memories. This is what makes it so hard to throw this shit away. I guess that blogging about it, then pitching it is the best solution.

Slight but obvious correction to last night's G&T recipe: right before "serve," add a very brief "stir." Otherwise you have a sucker-punch when you reach the bottom.

Also, I should point out that Hickville is a fictional New Zealand town, not some place to whence I'm planning a pilgrimage. The pilgrimage will of course be to the locations for LoTR-- me and everyone else who comes to N.Z. from now on, no doubt. Mom & Dad's postcards from there were what sparked my serious interest in the place, though, pre-movie. Raising sheep there sounds better and better, given current events. Either there, or Scotland.

And how appropriate on Fathers Day to remember what a great trip planner Dad was. He certainly was able to devote his retirement years to doing things that he loved. Good think you liked to travel, Mom!

To continue commenting on Sandy's post: I too remember shopping for the week's food and having exactly $20.00 to spend. No doubt at some point you took this on yourself, but at least in the beginning, we both did it, or maybe we traded off weeks. It was a challanging exercise, to be sure. And there was a time, boys and girls, when beef was cheap (well, not steak, of course, but hamburger) and chicken was a luxury item. Could you buy chicken already cut up back then? I think not. I know the Rancho Market had a meat counter, and that may have been the only way you could buy it.

I want to hear more about the Troy-Bilt horse. I know I need something like this, even for the tiny little garden in the back yard. I'm less able to do the physical labor, especially here in the jungle of rampant root growth, and even when I was more capable, it's never as good as what a mechanical monster can do in a fraction of the time. I probably could get by just renting one for the initial till, but what is it I should be looking to rent?

I want also to hear more about Mario. Is this a TV chef? I confess, I'm clueless about foodie channels (are there more than one?) And I agree about the wonderful olive relish recipe. I think I cut it in half too, but at any rate, I ate the leftovers myself over a few days, and loved every morsel.

Half past midnight here, and the eyes are at half mast. The bar is still open, so the bartender remains at the ready. Ah, the happy prospect of NOT having to go into the Tank tomorrow!