A Test

As I pulled out of our parking garage today on the way to work, I entered into the typical narrow alley standoff. A car wanted to get into the parking garage and was blocking my path; I couldn't manage a right turn to exit, so I continued to block said vehicle's way in. Dude decided he couldn't take the heat of my intense gaze (?), so he slowly began to back up. He reversed approximately three feet. Now I'm no math whiz, but I'm certain that amount of space had no positive effect on my turn radius or trajectory or whatever terminology math whizzes use in this situation.

So, what did I do?

Did I wait for him to back up more?

Did I honk to gently prod him into backing up more?

Did I honk seven times in quick succession to bully him into backing up more?

No.

I embarked on my exit. As I raised my hand in a hey-thanks-for-backing-up wave to the driver of the other car, my car made sweet love to the corner of the wall I was trying to get by. My right rear wheel well and door are demolished. Not just paint damage, not just a dent. We're talking restructuring of metal. We're talking around $2000 worth of ick. The wall, on the other hand, look like it just returned from a relaxing, tropical vacation.

And, you know, it stinks. It's not the best thing that's ever happened to me, but I'm fine. This is life.

Some days, you're the car and some days you're the wall.

Unrooted.

Guanajuato, Mexico from El Pípila February 2011

Everything is so temporary, she thought, so unrooted, and any one of us can just stand up and leave. She tried to imagine the world, even just one square mile of it, from the point of view of God--the appearances and vanishing, the abandoned objects, doors left open in haste--how it must look over centuries...

The Solace of Leaving Early p. 18

Food as Fuel: Day 1

I had another one of my brilliant ideas last week. Some people say I get on these kicks & then give up on them after three days &, of course, those people are right. Something must be done, though. I haven't been very routine about meals and the past few weeks have been an excruciating cycle of skip breakfast, eat a huge, greasy lunch, feel sick, and eat a pretty healthy dinner. (Points for the semi-healthy dinner, right?)

So, the idea. Well, boredom at work births most of these plans and this time was no different. I spent a good amount of time creating a table in Word to plan out a general daily meal plan, which resulted in the following guidelines:

Morning pick-me-up

Smoothie (spinach, almond milk, frozen blueberries, flax meal, chia seeds)

Breakfast

Oatmeal with dried apricots & peanut butter

or

Egg sandwich on an everything bagel thin

Lunch

Salad with tons of veggies and a protein (I'm working with garbanzo beans and roasted chicken this week)

Afternoon snack

baby carrots with Laughing Cow light swiss
crackers

Dinner

whatever that may be

The idea is to eat every few hours so I don't get too hungry or cranky, both of which usually lead to questionable food decisions.

I'm also hoping that this plan will give me the energy to, you know, actually move around. Maybe squeeze some physical activity in?

For now, I have no idea how many trillions of calories or grams of fat I'll be consuming in these meals nor do I can. This is more a test to determine how I feel when eating regular, smallish meals.

I'm moving my thinking from food as obligation and into food as fuel.

I must not let lingering resentment towards events of the past affect my attitude in the present.

Club di Vino

I had the opportunity, thanks to Groupon, to spend a night out with LBaz at Club di Vino. Club di Vino is a little something that The Merk hosts once a week on Thursdays. It allows guests to enjoy (or in our case inhale) a five course meal which is paired with wines from a local-ish winery.

The first course was risotto fritti with a spicy marinara, served with Viognier.

Our second course was a delightfully rich lobster bisque, paired with a crisp Chardonnay.

Pesto salmon with the only Pinot Noir I've ever enjoyed was served third.

The fourth course was mushroom risotto with the first of two Cabernets.

The fifth and final course served was a tender bit of flat iron steak with chimichurri. The wine pairing was another Cabernet. 

And, woot! We got a bonus course! While finalizing the menu for the evening, our host decided that there may be to much meat present and so replaced this sausage mac & cheese with the mushroom risotto. Unfortunately, the menu listed the sausage mac & cheese so when our group received the risotto in its place, all hell broke loose. Or at the very least there were some mild grumbles. Our attentive server, Kevin, quickly brought a sample of the mac & cheese for all to try. Crisis averted.

Club di Vino provided reasonable portions of delectable treats, while Hansen Cellars provided an endless supply of quality wines. There may be no better way to spend a night out with a lovely lady friend.

What are you going to do with your life?

'Live each day as if it's your last', that was the conventional advice, but really, who had the energy for that? What if it rained or you felt a bit glandy? It just wasn't practical. Better by far to simply try and be good and courageous and bold and to make a difference. Not change the world exactly, but the bit around you. Go out there with your passion and your electric typewriter and work hard at ...something. Change lives through art maybe. Cherish your friends, stay true to your principles, live passionately and fully and well. Experience new things. Love and be loved, if you ever get the chance.


If I tried, I could not more wholeheartedly recommend a book. One Day by David Nicholls. Do yourself a favor and begin reading it immediately.

Father's Day