Getting Ready

The bottle is locked and we're about to get loaded.

Joyeux Noel!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Ice! At The Gaylord Texan

This past weekend we met the family at the Gaylord Texan hotel to visit Ice! featuring Frosty the Snowman.

From the official website:

"Join Frosty, everyone's favorite snowman, and his friends on their quest to the North Pole in a colorfully frozen retelling of this original Christmas classic! Favorite scenes come to life in more than TWO MILLION pounds of hand-carved ice sculptures, including two-story tall ice slides."

It's hard to appreciate how cold 9 degrees actually feels until you're surrounded by it for about 30 minutes in rooms made of ice and filled with ice.

We had a great time.  Here's some pictures:

Queue sign/art

Favorites From My Christmas/Winter Playlist

Here's a few of my favorite songs and albums for the holidays:

2000 Miles - Pretenders
Arbolito - Tish Hinojosa
Old Toy Trains - Joe Nichols
Merry Christmas - Johnny Mathis
Merry Christmas - Andy Williams
The Heartache Can Wait - Brandi Carlile
Peppermint Winter - Owl City
The Velveteen Rabbit - George Winston & Meryl Streep
A Charlie Brown Christmas - Vince Guaraldi Trio
Carol of the Bells - The Bird and the Bee
Christmas Is - Lou Rawls
Christmas Island - Jimmy Buffett
The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses
A Very Special Christmas - Various Artists
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Annie Lennox
Hard Candy Christmas - Dolly Parton
Hazy Shade of Winter - The Bangles
I Like a Sleighride (Jingle Bells) - Peggy Lee
Jingle Bell Jamboree - Keb Mo
Nanita, Nana - Tish Hinojosa
Light the Candles of the World - The St. Philips Boy's Choir
Merry Christmas From the Family - Robert Earl Keen
The Classic Christmas Album - Willie Nelson
You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch - Aimee Mann
All I Want for Christmas is You - Mariah Carey

Another Earthquake

Another earthquake this morning at 6:01am.  It was a 2.7 magnitude quake.  I was downstairs on the couch and heard the windows rattle - didn't really feel it this time.

That's the 9th so far this month, and the 12th since April.

According to the local Emergency Management Coordinator "The city...continues to monitor and is in contact with seismologists who tell us the magnitude of earthquakes we have experienced is low, and earthquakes happen regularly. In fact, the United States Geological Survey estimates several million earthquakes occur in the world each year and most have very small magnitudes, such as those occurring (here)."

What they conveniently don't mention is that prior to the past couple of years, earthquakes in this area were a rare occurrence, and the current earthquakes are centered near recent natural gas drilling operations.

If it's not related, then maybe it's Godzilla about to wake from his slumber.  In the U.S.

Of course; that must be it.

Miscellaneous And Unrelated

Here's some other stuff I've been sitting on while finishing up the trip posts:

Mural from the now-defunct Horizons ride at Epcot.  Photo from imaginerringdisney.com.

Dragon riding Domo-kun.  Yes, I was bored beyond belief at the time.

This swirling cosmos would eventually become delicious pecan pralines

Accidentally took this photo.  Any guesses as to what it is?

Red Velvet Peeps - Yummy, but three was enough.

NY/DC Trip - Epilogue

Hello.  Just a quick follow up post with a couple of photos I forgot to post and a couple of new ones.

Here is the Arlington National Cemetery Amphitheater at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as seen from the air.  Photo from Wikipedia.

NY/DC Trip - Day 8

Last day.

Woke up at 6:30am and went into the living room.  I sat on the couch and covered up with the throw while surfing on my iPad.  The alarm I had set went off at 8:30 and I packed and showered, then we met Mom at 9:30 for breakfast.  I had the same breakfast again, this time with the chicken sausage, juice and whole grain toast.  Todd had french toast, sorry, Pain Perdu, again.

Pain Perdu if you're fancy

NY/DC Trip - Day 7

A lot of photos in this post, so it's kind of long.

I woke up at 7:00am on this morning, and got out of bed at 8:30.  We met Mom at 9:30 for breakfast, where I had the American breakfast again; this time with pork sausage and decaf coffee.

A view of Pinea, the hotel's restaurant where we had breakfast each morning

Breakfast tableau

NY/DC Trip - Day 6

Good morning Washington, D.C. W hotel Fantastic Suite!

NY/DC Trip - Day 5

Today we take the train to Washington D.C.

I woke up at 5:30am, then ended waking Todd up at 7:30.  We got out of bed at 8 and I showered and packed.

We met Mom at 9:15 and checked out, left our bags with bell services, then walked across the street to the 810 Deli & Cafe.  I had the same breakfast as before; a protein wrap that I split with Todd, and a Bolthouse Farms strawberry banana smoothie.

After we ate we walked to Central Park and watched the falling leaves around the duck pond, then walked to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).

NY/DC Trip - Day 4, Part 3

A short ride from 34th Street/Herald Square on the R train took us to 49th Street, then we walked to the Gray Line office at 777 8th Avenue and bought a double-decker bus tour of the "Downtown Loop".  Todd has always wanted to do this, so he was excited.  We walked over to Times Square to get on the bus.

Times Square

NY/DC Trip - Day 4, Part 2

Coming up out of the 34th Street/Herald Square station, we saw throngs of people lining 5th Avenue.  We walked over and the Veterans Day Parade was in full swing.  We stayed and watched for a few minutes (the whole parade lasted 4 hours), then continued around to the entrance of the building.

The Veterans Day parade

NY/DC Trip - Day 4, Part 1

Tuesday, November 11th - Veterans Day.

I don't remember what time I got up on this morning, but it was well before the 8am alarm went off.

After everyone was up and ready, we walked up 7th Avenue to Europa Cafe for breakfast.  I ordered an Europa omelet with egg, tomato, cheese, and onion, a side of diced potatoes, and orange juice.

The Europa omelet may not look that appetizing in this photo, but it was delicious

Hi Mom!

NY/DC Trip - Day 3

Woke up on this morning at 6:15am.  I woke Todd up at 8:00, and we finally left the hotel at 9:15.

Good morning New York

We took the E train at 7th down to the 23rd Street station and walked from there to Doughnut Plant - hooray!  We had eaten there in 2011 (photos noted) on our way to the New York International Auto Show, and were excited to go back.  I had a peanut butter-and-banana cream donut, and a carrot cake donut.

Good morning New York!  (2011)

NY/DC Trip - Day 2

Woke up at 6:30am and got out of bed at 7.  I showered and unpacked, then headed down to the gift shop at 7:30 to look for my hat.  Although hope springs eternal, they unsurprisingly did not have the exact same hat I bought there 3 years ago.  :o(

I went back to the room where Todd was getting ready.  We walked across the street and at 8:10 we had breakfast at the 810 Deli & Cafe.  I split a protein wrap with Todd, and had a Bolthouse Farms (funny, I just realized it was Bolthouse, not Boathouse) strawberry banana smoothie to drink.  Our local Kroger sometimes has these on sale 2 for 1, and they are tasty.

Today we had early reservations for the Statue of Liberty, so after breakfast we got on the 1 train at 50th and took it downtown to the South Ferry station.  We arrived at the ferry landing at 9am and were able to go immediately through the airport-style security and onto the first boat of the day with no waiting.  This was a huge change from April of 2011 when even with advance tickets we had to wait 2 hours to get through security and on to the boat.

Leaving the Battery Park ferry dock, looking at One World Trade Center

NY/DC Trip - Day 1

Just got back from a trip with Todd and Mom to New York and Washington, D.C. and we had a great time.
My aunt Shirley was also going to go, but had to drop out due to the death of a friend.  We were sad for the loss of Antonio, and also sad that she wouldn't be able to join us.

Really?

Now that I've finished the trip report, I can get around to posting some other items I've had in the wings.  Like this gem I found posted above one of the two urinals at work:

I don't remember them coming around to take that particular poll...

Colorado Trip - Days 7 and 8

Today we start for home.  I didn't make any notes, so I'll just caption the photos.

Funny, I always thought both tunnels were collectively called The Eisenhower Tunnel.  Apparently you exit through Johnson's tunnel.

Colorado Trip - Day 6

This was our last full day in Vail, and I didn't take many notes.

I was up at 5:30am and relaxed in bed with the iPad until 7:30, when I got out for a coffee and croissant which I squirreled back to the room to share with Todd.  We cleaned up and left the hotel around 2 hours later.  We stopped at Mountain Cupcakes again for another burrito breakfast (yum), then wondered around the village, looking in the different clothing stores, souvenir shops and art galleries.  We didn't buy anything, but the highlights were definitely PISMO Fine Art Glass and Vail International Gallery.  Bates Wilson and Carlos Trost at the Vail International Gallery were two of my favorites.

Colorado Trip - Day 5: Fondue Or Fondon't?

The temperature was so perfect, we bundled up under the warm comforter and slept with the balcony door open all night.  It rained several times during the night, but the overhang kept it out of the room.

Good morning world

Colorado Trip - Day 4, Part 2

I must have had a temporary brain aneurysm the other day, because I just realized there were other photos I meant to include in my Day 4 post.  So here they are - these were taken by Todd.

The Stanley Hotel

Colorado Trip - Day 4, Part 1

This was our last morning in Denver before heading into the mountains.  It was also my birthday.  :o)

Sunday Afternoon Toilet Repairs

We finally, finally, decided to fix the two leaking toilets, starting with the downstairs one.  Both were leaking due to rusted bolts connecting the tank to the bowl.

After about an hour and a few pronounced bouts of yelling at each other, we finished the first one.  It didn't help that the water won't shut off completely at the valve (that's a project for another day).  It wasn't too bad all things considered.  We're having pizza delivered as a reward, then we'll tackle the upstairs toilet.

Take that, porcelain devil!

Colorado Trip - Day 3

So where was I?  Oh yeah...

Up at 5:00am; Todd still asleep.  I stayed in bed surfing on the iPad and playing with the camera until 7:00am when I got dressed and went across the street to Starbucks to get a venti decaf nonfat vanilla latte.

Sleeping Beauty

Sunday Lunch At Home - Not Quite Vegan, But Not Like I'm Trying Anyway

Spent a fun morning in the kitchen today making a tasty lunch:

Spaghetti with tomato sauce
Braised eggplant topped with onion, plum tomatoes, basil and parsley
Whole-grain french baguette split lengthwise and spread with butter and smashed garlic
Mexican chocolate pudding made with tofu instead of milk, a combination of bittersweet and semisweet chocolate, cinnamon and chili powder.

Colorado Trip - Day 2, Part 2

We next drove to the little (blink and you'll miss it) town of Goodland to stop for lunch.  An app Todd looked at said there was a good local restaurant there called On the Bricks, so that was our destination.

We pulled off at the Goodland exit and passed the town's one-and-only (I guess) tourist attraction - a giant reproduction of one of Vincent van Gogh's sunflower paintings.  Who knew?

Van G(r)oh

Colorado Trip - Day 2, Part 1

Today's destination:  Denver.

Up at 6:30am.  Had breakfast in the hotel at 7:30:  scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, bran muffin, raisin bran cereal ;o) 2% milk, orange juice, water and decaf coffee.

Spent about an hour picking a hotel for our stay in Denver, then showered and hit the road at 9:50.

Windmill sightings at 10:10am.  Most were white, but some were painted a bluish gray to blend in against the sky.

Off in the distance

How To Perfectly Load A Dishwasher - Webcomic From The Oatmeal.com

This made me laugh.

Colorado Trip - Day 1

I'm back from a nice road trip to Colorado (not for that reason - I'm a good boy).  Here's how it went:

Wisconsin For Work

I recently travelled to Madison, Wisconsin for a work conference.  It's the state capitol dontcha know.

The meetings and events were held at Monona Terrace, on the shores of Lake Monona, Of the shining Big-Sea-Water, Stood Nokomis, the old woman...
Sorry, I drifted off into the Song of Hiawatha, by Longfellow.  It's early and I'm tired.

Monona Terrace

Monona Terrace was designed and revised by Frank Lloyd Wright between 1938 and his death in 1959.  However it was not actually built until the early 1990s, and only Wright's original exterior design was kept.

To me, the capitol area of Madison felt like a miniature cross between Austin, TX and San Francisco.
Photos below.

Ghost Haiku

You will not see me
unless you are cleverer.
Ah! You have found me.

OCT OMG

I'm all for the right to own a gun for protection, or hunting, or...whatever...

Rawhide Kid

Sean Connery in Zardoz

This guy

But do we really need to parade them around the suburbs like I saw today?  I mean, we also have the right to own a venomous snake or a flamethrower, but carrying those things around in public places is unnecessary and asking for trouble - either by inciting, escalating, or by accident.

Because apparently you need firepower when going to the Lush Nail Lounge

Or buying fried chicken

RuPaul And The Beauty Of Nature And Weight Loss

Steak Friday last night (New York strips), and after four glasses of wine I was three sheets to the wind.  Ended up watching the Kurt Russell corrupt cop movie "Dark Blue" in English on a Spanish language channel.

While the movie wasn't dubbed in Spanish, it was dubbed in English - apparently the movie had a lot of cursing in it and they were using the badly dubbed safe for TV version.  Every other sentence was out of sync with the actors' mouths, and I swear there were a couple of scenes where it wasn't even the same actors doing the over-dubbing.

Up at 3am this morning waiting for the sunrise.  Got out at 6am to go walking.  For the past 2 months I've been walking 3 to 4 times a week, doing 4 to 5 miles in an hour each walk.  I've also been walking 2 miles at lunch when I can, though it's getting too hot for that.

Buttermilk Chess Pie

Well, half of one would be more accurate I guess.

So good

I seem to be on a pie kick recently.  Partly because of the Nothing in the House pie blog, where some of the recipes I've tried have come from, and partly because pie shells are sold in twos and I always have one left over (as I mentioned in my last post, I don't make my own crusts, and I tend to shy away from pies with a top crust - too...well, crusty, I guess).

This pie came from Allrecipes and could not have been easier to make:

2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
5 eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 unbaked pie crust

Preheat the oven to 350.  Combine the sugar and flour in a large bowl.  Beat in the eggs and buttermilk until blended (I didn't want to haul out the mixer so I just used a big spoon and went to town on it until the sugar dissolved a little and wasn't so grainy - about 2 minutes).  Stir in the melted butter and vanilla.  Pour into the pie crust and bake for 45 minutes, or until it's set.

So a couple of notes on the cooking part, for novices like me:

1. The filling came almost right up to the edge of the pie crust when I poured it in.  I had to be VERY careful when getting it into the oven that I didn't spill it - I had it sitting on a cookie sheet just in case.
2. I was worried that it was going to rise, which it did.  However, it only started to rise as it was setting, so instead of bubbling over, it looked a little like a soufflé.  It falls as it cools.
3. I jiggled the pie a little at 45 minutes (scientific, huh?) to see if it was set and it was too wobbly - sort of like a little waterbed.  So I added another 5 minutes and tried it again.  It was still just a little shy of the mark, so I added 5 more minutes then took it out after that and it was perfect.  This made the crust a little darker (not burnt though) which I actually love, so I was fine with it.
4. I let it sit on a wire cooling rack for an hour before cutting it.  It was still very warm and delicious!

Let The Weekend Begin

With steak, of course!  Seared in the grill pan on the stove then 6-10 minutes under the broiler - easy peasy.  I season mine with a little garlic, a little worcestershire pepper, salt and lots of fresh ground pepper.

Steak, baked potato, corn on the cob, asiago parmesan bread, and a nice Napa Valley Pinot Noir

Can't forget dessert.

Strawberry pie (homemade, except for the crust - I don't do crust).  Not as good as Mom's, but still pretty darn good!

Uh-Maize-Ing

Glass Gem Corn

Things I Learned Today

In a pinch you can use tortilla mix instead of flour in your cornbread and it will come out fine.

A little dry, but good

Cotton candy "fudge" isn't as fun as it sounds.

It's more fun to call it a pound of Sulley flesh

A Haiku For The Person Whose Shopping Cart Rammed My Car Today

Parking carts is hard
I completely sympathize
You lazy asshole

What I'm Listening To

Francesco Rossi - "Paper Aeroplane".

Guacamole Paradise

Anamia's for lunch.

Made to order

Pet Shop Boys - Electric Tour

I have some time now to write about the concert on Tuesday night.

Todd has always been a fan of Pet Shop Boys.  We had been to their concerts before at the Bronco Bowl (remember the Bronco Bowl?) and the Nokia venue, now the Verizon Theatre.  He has a signed LP of their album Actually from a Sound Warehouse (remember Sound Warehouse?) appearance in Dallas in '88 or '89, and has all of their albums and almost all of the singles.

So, early in February when I saw they were touring for the Electric album, I ordered VIP tickets for the concert which included good seats and a meet and greet with PSB before the show.  The tickets would arrive in the mail, and about a week before the show I would receive an email with additional details and instructions for the meet and greet.

PSB 2

Autographs:  check.

They were both very nice and personable.

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe

Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant

PSB

In line for the meet and greet before the Pet Shop Boys concert.

The Majestic - downtown Dallas

The Fortune Cookie Was...Part 2

So, was my lucky star shining today?  Here's how the day went:

I did my taxes (hello, small refund), did the laundry, made chicken enchiladas for lunch with Todd's homemade tortillas, made chocolate chip cookies for dessert, did the dishes, was jonesing for a soda so bad - went to the store, bought sodas and filled the car up with gas, watched a PBS show about Selfridges department store, watched part of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, had another chicken enchilada for dinner, trimmed my fingernails, watched The Walking Dead, and now I'm going to bed.

So......

Yes, my lucky star was shining today - it was a good day.  Not good enough to need to be warned about three months in advance by a dessert, but the normal, everyday sort of good that I'm most thankful for.

Tortillas and enchiladas

The bedroom is calling (really just including this because we spent a crapload of time cleaning it and going through all the drawers a couple of weekends ago (where does all that junk come from and why is it so easy to stuff it away in a drawer and so hard to chunk it later?) and I forgot to upload the photo then)

The Fortune Cookie Was...

This reminder popped up on my calendar this morning:

"My 12/30/13 fortune cookie said to remember this day 3 months in the future - my lucky star is shining."

Here's to hoping that my lucky star is Sadalmelik and not Wormwood.  I'll let you know at the end of the day.

Sunday Night At Home

40-clove garlic chicken (thank you crock-pot) for dinner and Jet-Puffed toasted coconut marshmallows for dessert.  Now, do we watch Walking Dead or Cosmos first?

18 Years

Eighteen years ago today we were introduced by friends at Riscky Rita's restaurant in the Stockyards.  So far we've outlasted the friends and the restaurant.

Happy Anniversary Todd.  You are my love.

New York, April 2011

What Happened?

It was 80 degrees yesterday, and now this:

Bad Dream

Woken up early by a bad dream. Made me think of the countless times as a child when I would do the same and start to call (quietly at first so as not to attract the monsters), then yell across the house for Mama who would come to comfort me.

Which also reminds me of the countless times I would wake up and call ( quietly at first so as not to attract the monsters), then yell across the house for Mama, and when she came to my bedside I would say "I'm thirsty." and she would bring me a glass of water (instead of slapping the shit out of me and saying what the fuck is wrong with you?!).

I love you Mom.

Videos From The Ross Perot Museum

I forgot to upload these the other day.

The Infinite And Unfathomable Wonder Of The Universe

"There are more things in heaven and in earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
Hamlet (1.5.167-8)