( full review, with pictures )
Which is why we're living this life years after I begged Chris to never, ever open another restaurant. Life might be simpler if I'd managed to fall in love with a guy who was content to work on someone else's line forever, but I suspect it would be less interesting. As well, Chris is obviously so much happier and more interested in things since opening the place that I'd have to be a combination of Scrooge, the Grinch, and Selfish the Shellfish* not to support him in his quest. I'm bad, but not that bad.
As for the criticisms, I agree with some, take issue with others. Chris' twice-baked potatoes are great, but only when he personally makes them; nobody else seems able to make them any good at all. The numerous fans of the buttery-delicious Spooky Crepes, though, will be surprised to learn that they "exist primarily to show off the breadth of the kitchen's culinary knowledge." I don't believe Chris engages in that kind of culinary posturing -- he leaves that to the shark-fin-soup guys -- but even if he did, hello, huitlacoche is fucking delicious. It's still a bit alarming to many New Orleans diners raised on traditional ingredients, though (never mind that diners elsewhere are horrified and disgusted by the humble crawfish), and I'm hoping Chris can help ease them into a knowledge of its true nomminess.
At the end of the day, I'm waiting to hear from the folks who predicted that Chris would never be able to make it in the New Orleans restaurant world because he was so burdened by my drugged-out, has-been, sacred-cow-disliking ass. Evan? JoAnn? "Justine" from "Belgium"? Any theories on how the impossible came to pass? ... No, didn't think so. Sucks to be you.
I'm only sorry that Web readers can't see the accompanying photo of Chris juggling sweet potatoes in Exchange Alley. Why did he juggle sweet potatoes for his Serious Chef Portrait? Because he just had to.
*An obnoxious shrimp who was the antihero of several bedtime stories my mother used to tell me, perhaps suggesting an uncharming component of my childhood character.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
linguaphiles community: A Common Nomenclature for Lego FamiliesI thought the parents on my flist might enjoy this.
- Mood:
amused
I got an 25$ worth of gas last night for giving a ride and didn't even have to go out of my way!
The person whom I have been fighting for for the last 3 months FINALLY realized how valuable I am and told me repeatedly and vehemently how much he has missed me and how much he enjoys having me around. He APOLOGIZED for taking so long to contact me. It was everything I could have (but didn't because it was SO far-fetched) hoped for and even some things I didn't even know were possible. I felt so loved and valued and worthy and beautiful and special and important. It was VERY heady. I have been high on this buzz all day long. I am literally still somewhat in shock that the evening went the way that it did. I kept telling him that I was afraid to blink because it was going away and he said, 'try blinking, because it's not going away.' (!!!!) he was very constant and steady in his appreciation and value of me and kept telling me that it wasn't a dream and that he wasn't running away anymore. It was amazing. I am so awestruck. I feel like I just won the lottery. I can't stop smiling. It has just been amazing and fantastic and unbelievable. I am SO blessed and lucky.
Also awesome, my brother paid back the 200$ he owes me and my other brother is taking care of my $250 car repair bill that I have had outstanding at their dad's shop.
I also got the CUTEST silver ballet flats for $9 at wal-mart.
I am just having the most fantastically awesome day.
It feels so good after so many sad and lonely days.
- Music:Jambi - Tool
I also got to see lots of SJ Tucker, whose concerts were exquisite and her bandmate Betsy from Tricky Pixie made it all even lovelier. SJ does a goosebump and chill with beauty version of "Tam Lin" which everyone should hear during this lifetime, preferably in a faerie friendly spot. Wonderful,-travel safee s00j and I can't wait for Confusion!
Got to see lots of lovely people including Sihaya09, all beautiful and all kind.
Now I am doing unmagical laundry, but I feel a bit more sparkly anyway.
(0) This may make me a bad person, but I didn't use anything egregious.
- Mood:
tired
Yes, the burn out factor at my job, and in turn my life to a lesser extent, has been rather large as of late. This year I have drastically improved my output at work; I’m friendlier, I don’t call in as much (3 call in for the whole year and 0 tardies), and I even got accepted into a very special training program offered to the best of the best (only 20 spots for 500 workers). In short I’ve been kickin’ ass and takin’ names at work. This in conjunction with my drastic decrease in chemical mood alterations and the (albeit repeated) attempts to quit smoking (*cigarettes* which I am currently attempting as I type) have filled me with the urge to spoil myself. Thankfully my job offers a “Christmas Bonus” based on worker performance; for those poor dopes who “meet standards” its 500 dollars; for those better dopes that “exceed standards” its 700 dollars; and for the best dopes that show “outstanding standards” it’s a whooping 1000 dollars. Well I’ve got approx. 1,800 dollars worth of property tax due at the first of December; and I’ve saved approx. 1,500 dollars. Now the remaining 300 should be no problem right? I mean I clearly fall into the “Exceeds” or “Outstanding” category right? Well I’ll find out in a few weeks when I get my Eval. but my Supervisor has assured me that I will at least get an “exceeds”. WOO-HOO! That covers my Property Tax the rest of the way and lets me have enough left over to treat myself to some serious spoilage; namely the XBOX 360 (shining light, heavenly choir).
All is right with the world; I am one of the hardest workers in my department; and because of it I get to pay off more of my Condo and treat myself to hours and hours of Mutant Killing, Undead Hacking, Motorcycle Ridin’, Vampire Slaying fun…Right?
WRONG!
Just a little over a week ago Misericordia announced that due to the Budget Crisis (which has affected none of the Administration’s salaries, or prevented Miz from building three new houses on campus, or prevented them from re-paving ALL the roads on campus, or prevented them from holding a Gala Party for the fortieth year anniversary for Sister Rosemary); ALL BONUSES WILL BE CUT THIS YEAR! So not only does Super-Hard Working Gordon get the exact same bonus as the worst employee at Miz (I.E. Nothing); he doesn’t get to treat himself to anything fun and is short 300 bucks on his Property Tax…this equals major BURN-OUT!
My Baby and super empathic Girlfriend, Somnium_Antiu, picked up on this Burn-Out (mostly from all the swearing and continual sighs uttered whenever I talked about work); and she decided to do something about it. Last night she treated me to dinner, home cooked dinner. I grabbed a box of wine and “GI Joe” the movie from Blockbuster (absolutely hilarious, though not for the reasons it was intended; in short the plot of this movie was very nostalgic; because it was about as complex as the 80’s cartoon) and headed over to my Baby’s house (the mere fact that she wanted to watch GI Joe with me speaks volumes to her tolerance). The simple home cooked meal was not simple at all; IT WAS AMAZING!!! First brochette and garlic bread and lovely greek salad; soo good by itself; but then followed by tomato and feta covered chicken (fresh from the Butcher) that was DEVINE (Seriously this chicken goes down in the history of all the chicken I’ve ate in my life, in the top five; seriously amazing chicken). This was in addition to a lovely fettuccini with home-made basil sauce. THIS GIRL CAN COOK!!! So after stuffing myself with super awesome yummy goodness; she brought out desert…Crème Brulee (wait, let me rephrase that, fuckin’ spectacular Crème Brulee).
As I sat there digesting the Burn-out Busting Meal, she gave me a big box wrapped in red paper (with cute drawings all over it *which she had drawn*); it was my present. After all that she had done for me that entire night, she had also got me a present! Unbelievable, but there it was, a big shiny red box. She put it in my lap, it was very heavy, and I slowly peeled back the paper to reveal…
AN XBOX 360!!! (HALLELUJAH CHORUS)
No shit…my Girl bought me a brand spankin’ new XBOX 360!!! Why? Just for bein’ me…words cannot describe how fuckin’ lucky I am to have a Girl this fuckin’ awesome…Burn-Out is gone! I don’t care what happens at work, I don’t care what crazy shit happens in my personal life; I got the coolest Girlfriend in the world and I the rest of the world can go fuck themselves!
MY BABY ROCKS!!!
And I intend to hold on to her tooth and nail.
(Thier souls make his tummy happy. XD)
- Mood:
cheerful
I've been so busy working on these applications that I haven't had much time to process what happened at Fort Hood.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
schlaukraft is an army brat from Fort Hood. Her father was career military. The fact that a psychiatrist and an officer committed that atrocity boggles my mind. The man was tasked with an oath to protect his men and to do no harm. he worked his entire life to be in a position to help people. He heard tragic stories of war directly from the mouths of soldiers who he later killed. It's beyond despicable. I can't even imagine how something like that would happen. The press said that he was taunted, but he is not in high school. He's not a member of the Trench Coat Mafia. A man in the mental health profession should know when to get help. I'm stunned and outraged.I have long had plans to return to Austin to start my practice. Part of that plan has been to run a low cost PTSD support group for veterans up in Killeen near Fort Hood. I've spoken with many vets, and they have all said that they would rather get psych treatment outside of the VA because of concerns that their careers might be affected if they work within the VA. I feel for the families of those who have died and for the soldiers who were traumatized due to the acts of this selfish man. It helps knowing that I can be of assistance to the troops in the future.
Looks like I won't get much rest this weekend. Tomorrow and Sunday I will be in an all day class on Swedenborgian mysticism. I am very much looking forward to it. Having classes like that as electives is one of the wonderful things about going to school at CIIS.The downside is that I will be working through the weekend. I will have to somehow fit in my reading for my classes on Monday as well. I'll get it done, but I expect to be exhausted by this time next week.
- Mood:
pensive
I am going to make more time and effort to come here. It just makes me too happy not to. I love coming alone and will always treasure the memory of that first independent trip, but having Chris here with me is the best thing of all. I'm too tired and happy to go into specifics. Just walking around, hanging out together, seeing a couple of friends, eating lots of wonderful food (I've developed a taste for waffles on this trip - not American-style hot waffles with syrup but the crunchier Dutch ones you can eat hot or at room temperature, and that come coated in every permutation of chocolate, strawberry, cherry, vanilla, caramel, and nut topping you can imagine) and smoking vast tonnages of across-the-universe-quality weed, hash, and kif. I mean, the stuff that was considered strong nine years ago is on the mild end of the menu now, and the current state-of-the-breeding-art strains are just insanely strong. Too strong, many people claim; it renders them unconscious. Chris has gone semiconscious a couple of times, but in general he has held up admirably. Me, I just suck it up and love it. There is no pain here to speak of. Maybe eventually I'd get used to the massive concentrated doses of THC and the pain would return, but for the past four days it has been only a distant memory. If anyone ever tells you medical marijuana doesn't work, send them here and I will laugh in their face. (And just that should be enough to get them high.)
I was going to post pictures on Flickr, but the iPhone app is way too slow. For now, there are some on Twitter that you needn't be a member to see; just go to twitter.com and search for docbrite or @docbrite.
Tomorrow: Museumnacht!
http://ararita.org/content/promulga
"Oh, it's Guy Fawkes Day"
"..."
"Do you know who that is?"
"Uh...is he a pitcher?"
(I giggle)
"Don't laugh too hard (pats my shoulder). Yeah.. you could say he pitched. He pitched bombs".
- Mood:
weird
Dip my tail in blood ink
Write it down in red
Scribe the words "Happy meal"
Right across your head
Tired of getting walked on
Treated like a sheep
Don't blame me for all the years
That you were asleep
[Relax
God is in control
Watch the dot
Take your meds
Obey my demands
Trust my dog
Time for surgery
Relax
God is in control
Watch the dot
Take your meds
Obey my demands
Trust my dog
Shut your eyes you're dead]
Televised mass poison
Spitting at the screen
Keep the masses deluded
With fabricated dreams
Powdered God in a bag
From the Vatican
I want you to fuck off
As hard as you can
[Chorus]
Heaven has burst open
Now it's raining bones
The chaos will erode you
Breeding little clones
Born of a fallen rib
From the monkey's womb
Overcooked by cathode rays
Evolved to consume
100%
Eating from the butcher's slab
Becoming what they meet
Restrained and roasted while they gorge
Strapped into the seat
Bathing in your arrogance
Dining will ensue
God made me a cannibal
To fix problems like you
[Chorus]
100%
Last time was the last time...
This time, you're 100%
Last time was the last time...
This time, you're 100% fucked