Sometimes Bad Is Bad

I was so thrilled. OK I was still pretty sick, too. Photo by: Suna

Across the street, a neon sign

“All you can eat for a dollar ninety nine

Our soul stew is the baddest in the land”

But one dollar’s worth was all that I could stand

—Huey Lewis

I have made it through a full week at work now. For the last two days, I have felt pretty good, even though I finished the antibiotics and have cut back on the decongestants and cough syrup. Maybe I am finally over this thing. Man, it sucked.

I am still running behind on all of my personal writing and reading, but I am starting to catch up. I thought I would take this opportunity to note that I have joined Library Thing—an online community about books. I am starting to list the books I have read and write a short review of each of them. If I work at it diligently, I may have the job finished by the time I die.

Suna posted earlier this week about TubaBoy’s birthday, so I won’t go into too much detail here. We went to a local chain, Z Tejas Southwestern Grill, another company that thinks web visitors all want to see a prolonged, annoying flash intro rather than content.

If you like nouveau cuisine in a loud environment, this is the place for you. They try some weird experiments, but—on the whole—the food was good. The tables were comfortable and the lighting was intimate. There was something about the vaguely coleslaw-like food product that accompanied my mushroom enchiladas, and the ambient noise left my ears ringing. But the most important factor was that both kids seemed to like the place and their food. I can’t remember that happening before.

Friday’s Feast

Appetizer: What is your favorite beverage?

Like Suna, I must list more than one:

• Water
• Pepsi One
• Jack on the rocks
• Sangria wine

Soup: Name three things that are on your computer desk, either at home or at work.

I don’t really have a computer desk where I am comfortable working for long at home, and my desk at work is very Spartan because I am a short-term contractor there. At home, I mostly work with a portable in my lap. So I will list three things that I see from the couch:

1. The TV
2. The street outside, lined with front lawns and trees.
3. The media collection

Salad: On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how honest do you think you are?

8. I am not nearly as honest as I aspire to be, especially with myself. I do value honesty and I try to be honest, even when it is not in my immediate (or long-term) self interest. But actually putting my ideals into practice remains a challenge sometimes.

Main Course: If you could change the name of one city in the world, what would you rename it and why?

I never really thought about it. I get kinda irritated when they change the names of cities. It brings about that whole Prince thing. You know—the city formerly known as Stalingrad, which was formerly known as St. Petersburg.

Dessert: What stresses you out? What calms you down?

• Stressors: Not being able to do what I want or as well as I think I should.
• Destressors: Downtime with family and friends. Sleep, when I’m not too stressed to sleep.