Dogs can't read

My pet sitting services are not reserved solely for felines; they extend to canines also. Took Hudson for a brisk walk this morning. That would be Eric, Gaby and Diego's basset. Cute dog, but I'm not sure who was walking whom. One thing's for sure, it's damn cold outside - I froze my ass off just going around the block.

She's back

First of all - I'm really sorry I didn't make it to the soirees this weekend. Happy birthday Ursula!

I spent most of the weekend filing and purging stuff and lost track of time. Eloise has been staying with me the past few days and has been my faithful companion through it all . Well, maybe not so faithful - as she did bolt out the door the first day she was here. Lucky for me she hasn't tried that again. Now that she's settled in, she seems pretty content.

Orange crush

Alison and I (mostly Alison) made carrot soup last night. And made it with lots of good stuff too - carrots, celery, potatoes, tofu, onions, vegetable broth and sour cream. We (mostly her) made a huge pot, which meant I was fortunate to have homemade carrot soup for dinner tonight - along with some chicken soft tacos.


Btw, I'm not much of a food photographer. If you want to see some really nice food work, check out Berkeley's site (née Bandera).

While eating dinner, I watched Sunshine Cleaning on cable. Don't let the trailer fool you. You would think a movie about a crime scene biohazard clean-up service would be a hilarious romp full of hijinx and antics, but hmmm, not so much. It was mostly a bittersweet tale about loss and longing. Check it out - I think you'll like it. And besides, Amy Adams is just so damn cute.

Mad Men

... and women

Pete had a birthday this weekend and celebrated with a Mad Men themed cocktail party. As evidenced by my rosy complexion, I was testing the effects of the three-martini lunch:

Cocktails

June called recently to ask if I'd be willing to put up some of her Oslo, Norwegian friends during the upcoming South by Southwest. Their band is called the Cocktail Slippers, and they recently signed with Little Steven's record company.

They started off more Runaways:



But sound more like the Go-Go's after Little Steven got a hold of them:

Alternative living

Having a house full of stuff really makes me want to simplify my life. This weekend I ran across a couple of different options.

Tiny houses:



And the camper bike:



Of the two, I think the tiny house might actually be do-able. It's only about 100 sq. feet, but it's the quality of space, not the quantity of space that's important. Since it's so small, it's classified as a temporary building or mobile home, so no building permits are necessary. You can have one built on the West coast, and they'll transport and set it in Austin for a nominal fee.

Really, I can arrange for a Tarleton house in my back yard and then rent out my main house to three studious co-eds. Oh, wait - that's Eric's fantasy. Sorry. Anyway...

Holiday wrap

Given the outcome of the BCS game last night, the holidays are finally over. Here's a recap of mine:

Christmas with the family:


A couple of turtle pastries from an Asian bakery:


Reuniting with Eloise:


New Year's eve dinner with Dustin and Emily Sue at Bess Bistro, New Year's eve party at Kelvin and Colten's, and we rang in the new year at Kim and David's. A couple of days later, Sean and Amy hosted a great Mexican food dinner. Sean is quite the cook (I would say chef, but I find that word pretentious).

Hope everyone had a good holidays also.

Cheers
Gan bei
¡Salud!
Kampai
Na zdrowie

A stitch in time

I stepped on a discarded brake cable strand on new year's eve (one strand of the braided cable). I thought it was just a splinter's length, so I didn't think much of it when I failed to remove it with a needle. It wasn't until the next day that the pain really became unbearable. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a doctor available to see me on new year's day. ARC has an after hours and weekend clinic, so rather than going to the emergency room, I decided to wait another day. X-rays confirmed I had a 3/4" wire embedded in the ball of my foot, and that the wire had traveled about 1/2 an inch deeper diagonally into my flesh in those 2 intervening days. First doctor tried unsuccessfully to remove it. They called in a foot specialist - who made a longer and deeper incision and finally found the wire after 20 minutes or so of digging. Some stitches later - and I was good to go.