My weekend learnings

Well dear readers.....a very tough and sad week on many fronts is behind us, fortunately culminating in the annual triumph that is my birthday!  It always brings a renewed sense of joy to everyone!  I certainly can't say I didn't spend it in an unconventional way. 

First off - I had to flip eggs all day, ensuring the masses from the 'Croft, were well fed.  Nothing I love more than getting a bacon mist facial while my mother is turning her body into a ball mitt on the beach!  If you can wear a party hat while doing it, all the better.  However, all hope was not lost.....I had big dinner plans for the night.  My hometown BFF was taking me to "Daves Place"!  Hmm - ok, never been there. 

One thing to note is that "the Croft" is not a culinary mecca.  Very little is homemade, there is no local produce, and for sure, the most ethnic it gets is the fresh from frozen egg roll you will get at "the Pine Yard", or the congealed lasagna at "Vito's".  Unless its Schnitzel on a Bun day at Mom's place.  Dining is routinely a crap shoot.

So as I advertised this "Daves Place Excursion" amongst the restaurant patrons, they merely asked me "why are you going there and not to 'The Granite'?"  I confess, I did not know.  Daves Place was already a B plan - what were we in for.  Surely BFF would know how critical dining is to me.....actually she wouldn't because SHE NEVER READS MY BLOG!!!!!  Anyway - the whole Dave's place bit was a wash as BFFs sister wasn't keen either and was going to be interloping on the night aswell.  We instead went to "the Craftman".  I have never in my 30 years of 'Croft life, been to the Craftsman.  It was always the destination spot before Prom, or valentines day etc...(2 of my least favourite occasions....although I had a FAB prom dress if memory serves.....) I drive past it everytime I go home and always wonder, under what circumstance would I find myself there.....now I know.  When I need a Birthday "C Plan".  Here is a good insight into "The Craftsman":

Pretty classic.  We couldn't take the time time to print a nice sign?  Or at the very least, scribe it on a flat surface so that the fluoro-paint didn't run.

Buy I'm a maverick.  I'm going anyway.  Now we are all just in it for the material!  To be quite matter-of-fact, the restaurant is the porch of a house with an additional add on porch.  It is an eclectic schmeer of old Coke bottle paraphernalia, tin signs, mismatch furniture, nappy indoor outdoor carpet, and vinyl table coverings.  It has everything....except heat.  And its a hopping little joint complete with live entertainment. A stirring medley of Matchbox20, Neil Diamond, Eagles.....I bet there was GaGa in his gi-tar repertoire too! 

After some banter with a man BFF-sis calls "Local Flavour", we commence with determining by which method tea water is heated.  BFF-sis will not drink tea water heated via a coffee brewing system.......Who knew she was a kettle-snob :).  The tea was quite good.  I stuck with the UK theme after wrestling between liver or fish.....I went with fish and chips.  Tasty.  Note:  The tartar sauce was just mayo...... At 36 years old - at 5:30pm, I'm dining on fish and chips and tea......feeling 26, looking 86!  I give the meal an 8/10.  It could have scored higher if not for the aforementioned "Local Flavour".  A middle aged lad - trying to sober up on some coffee chooses to engage us in conversation about sauerkraut and then moved on (no doubt prompted by our scathing glares) to sit front row, rooting on the 1 man band.  No doubt his first groupie.

Back at the BFF family ranch, I've learned that the cheesecake my surrogate mom always makes on my big day for me.....has been made by BFF-sis!  Can you believe it?  She phoned it in.  Truth be known - it was better......but I'll never tell her that.  SHE DOESN'T READ THE BLOG EITHER!  Finally someone opens some booze, and we settle in for some Wine & Wii.  If you currently are not playing "You Don't Know Jack", you should be.  I love that game.  For that matter if you are still looking for the perfect belated gift - head on out to WalMart for the game - I don't own it either.  I only won 2/6 games, which quite surprised me......I need to hone my skills.  I used to be good when I lived on BFF-sis's couch a decade ago!

I still needed to know though - why did we not go to "the Granite"?  This is the "Croft's" see and be seen establishment (after Moms restaurant of course.....)..... turns out we don't like the owner.  Ooooohhhh - now I'm in the loop.  I personally think their menu stinks, but apparently they're snooty too.  BFF-sis is not a fan of common people who don't think/know that they are, in fact, common.......and guess what I learned?  Apparently I'M COMMON!!!  I had no idea.  Thank goodness she told me.  That certainly brought me down a few pegs.  And what better time, than on a day committed to me!  Good thing she let me live on her couch for free or I might have been offended......

So the festivities forge forth this week - but sadly, so does the wind down of my 3 con-ed courses.  Worlds are colliding......

363 days to go till I'm 37.

No one comments on my blog anymore......

So how can I know if anyone is reading and appreciating all of my to'ing and fro'ing??

Anyhow - just 2 things to share today.  Thank you Honda.  While ingenious, I am wondering what the stress lode is on the seat, and can it handle an ever expanding nation, now in a position to never walk anywhere ever again........click this!  Where can I get me one of these???

And also, thank you Campbells!  Get a loada this link.  Finally someone has taken hold to make food-banking and disaster relief doable!!!  Apparently this is a full meal in a can....380 calories a serving, vegetarian or chicken.  The link below has all the deets.  Awesome!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/campbells-nourish-brand-tackles-hunger-through-canadas-food-banks/article1922108/

Thats it. Faith in humanity renewed! Getting my eyes checked tonight.....can't wait to see again

Georgia on my mind

Its a gloomy Saturday.  Still only 14 lbs lost......so chose to scarf 3 peanut butter cookies.  Sigh.  I'm a sucker for warm cookies.  My sheets are in the wash - so I can't really nap.  I have an assignment due yesterday - and since late is late....what the hell, update the blog right?

Its 4:30 and I'm still in my jammies, but wearing my beret to add some class.  Have a tea.....put the cookies on a plate for dessert with mayan chocolate ice cream.  A sad limp chicken is waiting to be transformed into a culinary opus.  I cleaned the fridge today....that alone was worth one cookie.....

Wanted to share the sights of Atlanta today. Now that my bout with scurvy has passed, I feel I may have forgiven the city somewhat, and I am now emotionally capable of sharing.  So heres a few nifty excerpts from the trip.  As I've mentioned, I was really there for the aquarium, but fortunately - the residential elite have given me plenty of material.......and I got to use the aquarium setting on my camera....





 I found this hairdo quite indicative of Atlantas elite.  How the heck do they do it?

Once finally in the aquarium, we were first greeted by scads of starfish that were by and large - PINK

You have to look carefully, but all of the natural coral in this tank is mobbed with yellow seahorses....which as you all know, are my favourite.

This is an anemone.....when you touch it....all of the little tendrils suck in.  Their pretty squishy and about the size of cantaloupe.

These lion fish are pretty decent

I thought these guys were rocks.  Don't they look like a happy couple?

This was just an eerie exhibit......but fun fish eh?

This is a whale shark.....do we this Joe-Photog with his i-phone was able to capture the moment?

Note the i-phone activity....it was wild.  Its the new mode of capturing the moment......I'll stick with my camera thanks very much :)

After the aquarium visit, we did the wonderful world of coke.  I tasted 68 coke products from across the world.  One did taste like shoepolish, but I won't be at a drive thru in Germany any time soon, so no risk of reexposure.  Granted, I have never really tried shoepolish.  I have rinsed with blue clearasil before......

This place is uber saturated in all things commercial Coke

They are very big on displaying every artisan Coke brand vessel known to man.....these are bottles from around the world.  Blogger is experiencing photo upload difficulty....so I'll have to do a part 2 one day.

On the subway home - burnt out an beleaguered I asked myself an age old question....why do the asians wear white socks with EVERYTHING????

So thats where I have to leave it today....I have to go back to my domestic duties.......

More on the new job tomorrow.....

Whaddaya Think of the New Blog Background?

Its pretty for spring isn't it.  And also just in time for the pending tulips,pussywillows, headlice, and worm entrails under your shoe.......

These nasty suckers are back........nothing says Luck o the Irish like synthetic green food dye in your colon!

Enjoy

Tinkering w B Day visions

Having a great day surfing the web......thought I'd share some of my findings.....sides hurt....so much jocularity.

These are from a book called Passive Aggressive Notes: Painfully Polite and Hilariously Hostile Writings by Kerry Miller.   Enjoy.....Klein - are these your work??????

Other books I'm keen on are:

Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America by Julia Montague

50 Sad Chairs by Bill Keaggy

Regretsy - When DIY meets WTF by April Winchell

Awkward Family Photos by Doug Chernak

And this was just absurd.......I wonder where you buy these...probably in the same store as the plush Toy Story 3 Peas.......I still don't own those.....also a good bday idea......

Hope you enjoyed the mystic ramblings of one winding down a job that never really wound up......



Thank goodness the 2010 tax year has me shakin in my boots......

...or I never would have been able to stay awake through the Oscars.  Fortunately, pre-doing my #'s to figure out how much $$ to shove in an RSP gave me an unplanned smack in the face, waking me right up!

What the hell happened to my award show.? I revel in this program every year.  Since Silence of the Lambs swept the podium a hundred years ago I have been a rabid Oscar hound.......Has the academy learned its lesson yet?

When Billy Crystal makes an appearance......just let him keep hosting, and put Anne and that nimrod Franco out of their misery.  What a horrifying attempt at hosting.  The audience may have been better entertained had Franco shared some of his "stash" on the red carpet.  For that matter, a doddering Kirk Douglas brought on more laughs, and could have given those 2 the hook.

And what backward ho-down isn't complete without some white trash showin up with some bad tater-salad.  That Leo babe couldn't have done herself a bigger disservice with that speech.  Me thinks we won't see her on the podium any time soon.....and CTV won't risk not having a time delay (those poor kids from PS 22 sitting back stage for 3 hours heard the F word!).  Hyperventilating, using the f-word, waving at the little people - the whole what-really-little-old-me? routine doesn't quite ring true when you've taken out ads in the Hollywood trade press saying Vote For ME

Of course Halle Berry also needs to make a token appearance to honour someone "of colour".  I'm surprised she isn't feeling a bit typecast.......

If Colin Firth hadn't have won, I expect I'd be quite bitter by the end of these proceedings, but such was not the case.   I'm sure the saccharin Kumbaya riff of PS22 would have brought me around if there was a loss.

I agree with Piers Morgan - this event needed Ricky Gervais.  And why does Christian Bales accent change with every award show? And why would Nicole Kidman wear those awful orange shoes....of course the old babe behind her has a pretty nasty pink ensemble on that she clearly slept in.....

Another question I have is why are Penelope Cruz and Sharon Stone still showing up to the Oscars?  Just for the dresses?  Dunno, but they are a burden to have to flip past in the papers.........

In other news.....

It is 25 days till my birthday......hope the shopping is going well.....