a dose of the good

we needed a dose of the good here at Chez TQ, so we made a traditional English roast supper for Easter. We did the Gordon Ramsay last supper version of roast and gravy and Yorkshire puddings, along with roasted potatoes like we had in a pub in London. Crispy outside, soft and fluffy on the inside.

The Yorkshire puddings came out! They needed to be done for maybe 2 more minutes, but we did it!

The potatoes were amazing. The roast was nummy. And we tried a new coconut cake that was very nice. Fluffy and light, though I think if we make it again, we'll do it in 2 pans and put whipped cream and coconut in between the layers. That will keep the coconut from drying out, instead of putting it on top.

Yeah, it was a good easter supper.

the last few days

Lord, lord, folks. What can I say?

How about migraine yesterday that means I lost my third straight day of work to something that doesn't deserve my time.

How about since I had to take so much med for the migraine, my kidneys are now rioting

I feel let down, some by myself and things that I let slip through the cracks, but also by others. I don't air my dirty laundry in public, but there are things I won't be able to get over. There are people in my life who I thought ought to know better, who have done irreparable harm, and I wish I could say I was a big enough person to get over it, but I'm not.

Not when my sugars are sitting at HI on my meter and my meter cuts off at 800. Not when I've seen the stuff I've seen. Not when I sat and cried on it all night a few nights ago and couldn't come up with a reason to keep trying.

All I can say is that's it's time to put on my big girl panties and suck it up, so I can get back to work and maybe go watch some bullriding.

y'all be good to yourselves and have a good weekend

so I lied

I went and bought a pack. It was just a case of one thing too many

some days you just want to hide in bed

then again, the day I let someone else tell me how to run my business is the day I start closing it down, so fuck 'em

What, I don't have to be professional here

If I didn't have a cigarette today, I'm good to go for a bit

The problem is that I really don't want to quit. I have to for my health. I have no doubt I will have to have a smoke at RT, because otherwise I will quite literally do something awful. Of course, if things continue on apace I won't have to, as the lawyer will be doing it for me. Speculation is one thing. Libel and slander are another.

I'll just get S to buy menthols. I don't like them enough to smoke more than a few

so, I figured it out

Food critic and super duper asshole at large, Alan Richman has summed up what it is about Yankees that makes me crazy and somewhat violent in his bile filled article about New Orleans:

"New Orleans has always been about food and music, with parades added to the mix. (In the North, where I come from, we like to think we’re about jobs and education, with sports thrown in.) Vulnerability goes along with loving the dinner table too much—think again of our old friends the French. It might sound harmless for a civilization to focus on food, but it’s enormously indulgent. Name a society that cherishes tasting menus and I’ll show you a people too portly to mount up and repel invaders."

(you can find the most amazingly insensitive article here: http://men.style.com/gq/features/full?id=content_5165 )

This is it, exactly. That sense of superiority. That fucking Puritan sense of entitlement. The idea that if you love life and love food and enjoy being who you are, you're stupid, ignorant, and less worthy.

Fuck that shit, and fuck him. How's that for succinct and articulate?

I just sat and cried

I had a moment of complete overwhelmed-ness last night. I just sat and cried, and thought, I can't so this. Thank God I have a fabulous support system, from the shepherd who needed huge nuggles this morning to the two bassets who loved on me to the business partner who said, "What can I do to help?"

Thank God for a good team ;) Go team Torquere

I know in relative terms, I'm lucky. I do

Sometimes I just get bogged down in the details.

running around madly

back from the carolinas. Saw my bro a couple times. I've missed him a lot, so it was fun to hang with him and D and the SIL. We went out to eat at a meat and three. This is a fascinating southern phenomenon I never encountered as a child, at least not named such. You get a meat and three sides for a set price, and there's usually a dizzying array of sides to pick your three from. Uhn. Then we went to this little dessert place about 15 miles out of downtown Columbia, and it was cute, had good cheesecake and better cappuccino.

On the way home, we flew into houston and stopped off at the stock show to see Tim McGraw.

Tim sounded and looked a little under the weather, which he apologized for, but he's still the hottest man on earth, and it was a fine, fine thing, especially when combined with rodeo.

We saw Tracy Lawrence this week, too, and he sounded just like him, classy, hit every note, and you can tell Tim toured with him when Tim was a wee hat act. He picked up a good bit from Tracy Lawrence.

I think people who travel ought to have more gratitude. I mean, if you can afford to go and do and see, then you're better off than 90% of the world. Stop bitching about the blueberries not being fresh in a mid-price Holiday Inn. You didn't like having to sit through the rodeo to see a concert? Don't buy tickets to a rodeo concert. Save your money and go somewhere else. Rodeos are cheaper for the entertainment, no doubt. I get that. But that also means you get an hour of songs and two hours of rodeo. That also means that if you were dumb enough to pay for floor seats, the acoustics will suck. The rodeo arenas are not made so the people down on the arena floor can hear the announcer.

They're made so the crowd up in the stands can...

It just makes me insane.

Sure, we all bitch about some stuff. I hate it when it rains on me when I'm trying to tourist, but I know it's inevitable, so I take a hat and an umbrella. I hate rude people who cut in line, but I try not to make a fuss, even if I do growl under my breath. The thing is, I get free drinks from bartenders and extra food from waitresses and tables from maitre'ds in restaurants that were full because I'm nice. I'm patient. And I have a great joy in the fact that I get to go and see.

Remember, it goes both ways. People are unlikely to be nice to you if you expect more than they can give. And then scream about it.