"Puppet wrangler? There weren't any puppets in this movie!" – Crow T. Robot
There was no cheese at the office today, although there was, briefly, apparently, some cheesecake. There was an e-mail about it, a small crowd swarming towards the lunch room, but I didn’t have any. And the rest of the day was just pretty much average for a Thursday.
Today was an interesting day. We had another one of our “brown bag lunches” at the office, this one a talk (and tasting) about the wares at a local cheese shop. It was actually really quite interesting. Did you know, for instance, that cheese made from cow’s milk is usually yellow because of the beta carotene — which goats, on the other had, digest, making cheese made from their milk white. We each had a plate of five cheeses, which we went through one by one. I think the Cabot clothbound cheddar was everybody’s favorite, although I think more than a little of it would be almost too sweet. It was almost toffee-flavored or candied as is, but still, delicious.
All together, it was one of our more successful brown bag lunches — lunch itself was salad, which itself was different — and I left with some great tastes, a little bit of knowledge, and a 15%-off coupon. (Of course, that cheddar alone is priced at $22.99 a pound, so I’d probably need the coupon if I decide to shop there.)
It was all I could do not to ask about Venezuelan Beaver Cheese.
Of course, the whole day had a kind of weird pall over it. I’m not sure I can express just how saddened I was by the news that Ray Bradbury had passed away. Or just how much the man’s stories and novels meant to me. So maybe I’ll just leave you with this lovely quote from the man himself:
The thing I dream is this: That some night, a hundred nights, a hundred years from now, there will be a boy on Mars reading late at night with a flashlight under the covers. And he’ll look out on the Martian landscape, which will be bleak and rocky and red and not very romantic. But when he turns out the light and lies with a copy of my book, I hope, The Martian Chronicles, the Martian winds outside will stir, and the ghosts that are in my book will rouse up, and my creatures—even though they never lived—will be on Mars. And that’s the dream I have.
If there was ever a better argument for going to Mars, I haven’t heard it. He will be greatly missed.
I don’t want to tell Tuesday how to do its job, but it’s not like it made doing mine exceptionally easy. I got to do it from home at least, a good stretch of it on the deck in the backyard, but that just made it more pleasant (before it started to rain), not easier. Mostly, it’s just a bunch of projects that aren’t running as smoothly as I’d like them to, though nothing quite at a critical level. Maybe more like being slowly nibbled to death by ducks level.
Oh well, the backyard was nice when the sun was out.
Here’s a picture of a sunny day. Today was not that. Except when it was. Honestly, the weather was a bit all over the place today, and chillier I expected. It rained, because apparently that’s what it does here now, constantly, but the rain also gave way to bright sunny moments now and again.
That and some e-mails is about as exciting as the day got. So, in lieu of any real content, here’s my music mix for May:
Make of it what you will.
Last night, I got take-out from a local Southern restaurant, one I don’t much opportunity to visit. (I think this is actually only the third time I’ve ever been there.) I ordered fried green tomatoes, fried catfish (with hush puppies, cornbread, collard greens, and coleslaw), and banana pudding for dessert. I feel like I maybe should have gone with the brisket, even though the catfish was quite tasty, just to change things up a little. But the tomatoes, particularly the horseradish dressing, and the pudding were ridicuolously good. I spent the rest of the evening wrapped in a food coma.
I was disappointed to discover the Thai place I really like, that used to be right next door, is now a Five Guy’s hamburger joint. I’ve become slightly less enamored of Five Guy’s now that the novelty and rarity has worn off. (There’s one across the street from my office.) Truth be told, I don’t love their fries, and I think I prefer In-N-Out Burger. And I really did like that Thai place.
Anyway, other than that, yesterday was a pretty ordinary day. We had a brief presentation about author filming, what to do and what not to do, and how it can be a tool for promoting a book. I don’t know that it’s something that I’ll have call to do in the near future, but you never know.
Today was my last day all by my lonesome, just me and the dog. My parents fly home from Italy tomorrow, and both I and the dog will be happy to see them. Tucker dosn’t like change in his routine; I don’t love having the house all to myself at night. It’s one reason, I have to admit (though it sounds silly), that I’ve shied away from watching anything like a horror movie while they were away. Tonight, I watched t Transsibberian, a thriller, which is about as close as I’ve gotten these past two weeks. (The movie was good, and well acted, although honestly a bit disappointing in the end.) I’ll be happy to have a little more noise than just a barking dog (and me talking to the dog, or, sometimes, myself) around the house again.
Today was mostly about running a few last-minute errands, doing laundry and dishes, and trying to reassure Tucker he’d only have to put up with me for one more night.
Anyway, that’s it for Friday and Saturday, such as they were.