Melicious Details

Doggy Dementia

Teddi's vet suggested that Canine Cognitive Dysfunction is the likely cause of her (Teddi's) strangeness these days. Especially the nonstop pacing and wandering which is going to give me Human Cognitive Dysfunction by like tomorrow due to the endless click click click click click click click of 20 little dog toenails on the hardwood floor.

You and your dog should take the CCD quiz, so you can see all of the symptoms.  Out of 15, I think Teddi has 10.  She thinks she has none, but she can't really remember what the question was by the time I get done reading it to her. There is a drug to treat CCD which Teddi just start taking, so I'll let you know how it goes. I will do anything to help Teddi live a long and happy little dog life.  I don't mind at all that she has to be carried up and down the stairs, that she requires pretty much constant watching because her sight and hearing are so bad, or that taking her for a walk requires a lot of patience for someone like me who wants to WALK FAST and Teddi's speed these days is all about slowness.  I just really want this new drug to stop the clicking!!

Beignets!

There's nothing like a big pile of Cafe du Monde beignets sprinkled with a pound of powdered sugar for breakfast.  Or also at 3:00 a.m., which is the only time Debbie likes them.

Friday night's dinner at Dante's Kitchen was southern comfort food at it's most awesomely decadent.  And all of that butter-infused, molasses-laced, gravy-covered goodness also came with locally farmed organic fruits and vegetables.  Where else but New Orleans will you find a menu that includes root beer candied sweet potatoes?  That are also organic.

March = Random Celebrity Sighting Month

Peggy Fleming in Neiman Marcus San Francisco.
Joan Baez at hair salon in Campbell.
Ric Ocasek in boarding lounge at New Orleans airport.

Go figure.

Going Commando in New Orelans

Attending a conference while Wearing Invisalign is a huge pain in the ass. I won't begin to complain about describe all of the steps involved in meeting/eating/brushing/eating/brushing/meeting.  But then it was finally the "special work event" moment that happens every day at 5:00 pm when it's Time for Wine!  So out came the Invisaligners and I was looking forward to maybe two hours of nontorture. Time for Wine ended up lasting until 7:00  and then it was Time for Dinner. We ate (and drank) at this excellent restaurant.  And then since it wasn't too late, everyone decided it was important to continue the New Orleans tradition of more drinking and we wandered over to the bar here. Three Peartinis (made with grey goose la poire flavored pear vodka yummmm) later, sitting in the bar dimness and smokiness, twitching to the pounding beat of retro music I have a revelation:  it feels just like I am not wearing any underwear.  I smile really really big and announce to my friends "hey - it feels just like I am not wearing any underwear!!"  That is what six hours of not Wearing Invisalign does to me. 

Once Removed

My mom stopped by with her cousin Jean who is in town visiting from Ohio.  I didn't know what to call someone who is my mom's cousin so when referring to Jean I called her "my aunt". Then I found out from The Internet that Jean is actually my second cousin once removed.  Lucky for Jean, this means she is removed from the branch of the family that owned a circus and also from those people who lived in Arkansas. 

I think of cousins as people who are approximately your age, although I do have cousins who are much older than I am.  And my dad had a sister who was old enough to be my grandmother, but that is whole other blog entry.  So I have Jean, who is approximately my mom's age, and is my cousin, who has been removed, but only once.  It's also possible to be removed twice but it will make your brain hurt if you try to figure out who those relatives are. And then you too might discover that you are related to Dick Cheney and who wants to have that unhappy experience.

Sue also had a second cousin once removed who was named Jean, which could mean that Jean is the official name assigned to anyone who's a removed second cousin.  After being really old for a long period of time, Sue's Jean passed away and Sue was left having to deal with her estate, which mostly meant cleaning out a house that hadn't been cleaned since Nixon was president.  We found this rocking chair that had been Jean's and Sue and I thought it was cool, so I brought it home and Clyde refinished it. Tango is not thrilled about the rocking part.

Whenever I get a compliment on the chair, I tell people that it used to belong to Sue's aunt.

Invisahell: Day 18

So far I have been an outstanding Wearing Invisalign patient and I do not complain at all!  I do provide a lot of description when answering a question, like "well, I'd love to get some coffee with you, but first I have to take out both of my Invisalign trays and then after I drink my coffee I will have to find a public restroom that passes my criteria for a facility where I will brush my teeth, and then I'll have to put both the trays back in, but sure, let's get some coffee". Which really does not qualify as complaining.  At all.

On the official Invisalign website it says: You're free to take them out whenever you need to. Eating, drinking...you name it. Even if you just need a break from wearing your aligners during a high school reunion or special work event, that's OK. This is exactly the kind of bullshit marketing spin I would create if I worked at Invisalign.  Sadly I don't have a high school reunion for 2 more years. But at 5:00 pm every day, I now declare a "special work event" called Time for Wine.  Time for Wine means I can 1. immediately cease Wearing Invisalign and 2. drink a bottle glass of wine. This is the best part of the whole Wearing Invisalign experience! Only 122 days to go.

You wanna be in, but you're out

SNL did this great bit about a really fierce new show starring Heidi and Tim and Christian

And for a super hilarious recap of the Project Wunway finale, read this from Laura. I really like Laura and not only because she doesn't like Nina either. It really has more to do with her dogs. 

Breakfast in Hell

In January I visited Debbie in Minneapolis.  The number of people in both the Bay Area and Minneapolis who were incredulous that I would go in January equaled every person who found out about it. But I love spending time with Deb and I was missing her, so my down jacket and I tried not to be too scared of the cold as we stepped off the plane and the temp was "in the single digits!" as they say up there.

What you might not know about Minneapolis is that it is worth the trip and potential frostbite to have breakfast at Hell's Kitchen.  Much of Hell is painted bright red, as you would expect.  And because we went on a Sunday, all of the servers in Hell were wearing their pajamas, because it's a pain in the ass to get out of bed and go to work on the weekend.  Or maybe that is really the definition of Hell.

Deb, who always gets her pork fix when we go out to breakfast, had yummy yummy pancakes and a side of bacon. Well, a few pieces of bacon, not really the whole side of the pig, if you know what I mean.  I had oatmeal that was the best ever. Ever, ever.  If you are in the mood for oatmeal, definitely go to Hell, you will not be sorry.

Hell has an extensive menu that also includes their specialty, Toasted Sausage Bread, which is "deliciously dense and made with homemade bison sausage, toasted walnuts, black currants, black coffee and spices."  I did not have any so cannot comment, except to say that for sure the words bison, sausage and bread do not belong in the same recipe. 

A bustle in your hedgerow

I took my niece Chelsea to her first concert for her 15th birthday.  We saw Evanescence, which was preceded by a band that was loud. They weren't so much playing music as they were creating loudness.  Chelsea thought they were awesome.

When The Band of Offending Loudness finally stopped being really really loud playing, we could hear music coming over the PA system during intermission. The song Running With the Devil started up and this conversation ensued:

Chelsea:  Aunt Missy, who does that song?
Me:  That's Van Halen.
Chelsea:  Did they do Stairway to Heaven?
Me:  No, that was Led Zeppelin.
Chelsea:  Oh.   <pause>    They're all dead now, right?

Words that are mine

I found a cool new site last week called The Big Word Project. It has a brilliant yet simple premise:  buy a word for a $1 per letter.  That word becomes yours and whoever clicks on it from the site is directed to a url you've chosen.  I bought    for Bring Light

and I bought this for me: