Roswell is still RosHell

Yesterday I had a long drive, from Albuquerque to Pecos (TX). I
stopped in Roswell for lunch.

I had heard that Roswell was a more interesting town since the series
of the same name. But I can't see it. It still has a dull, oppressive
air. There's a local McCain/Palin office a block from where I took
this photo. Roswell is still flat and ugly. And the UFO/alien-themes
businesses all appear to be out of business (like this comics shop) or
struggling. At least my green chile cheeseburger from Sonic was edible.

Ruh roh!

Coffee, Whole Paycheck Style

I love developing patterns for my day-to-day operations. But sometimes
those patterns become ruts, and they need revisiting.

Going to Uptown Espesso after lunch is feeling like a rut. It would be
better if their coffee were better. I've been to the SLU Vivace a
number of times, but it's a schlep.

Today I remembered that Whole Foods has an espresso bar. So I thought
I'd try it. It's pretty good! Better than Uptown or (God forbid)
Starbucks. Not as good as Vivace. Exactly as I expected.

That's a pumpkin behind the latte, but you can't tell due to the
crappy photo composition. Apologies. :)

Always look on the bright side of life (conclusion)

Bleah. That didn't help. But here we go, finally some good news!

Always look on the bright side of life (cont'd)

That wasn't very reassuring. Let's try the Weather app...

Always look on the bright side of life

Let's see, it's kind of a Blue Monday, isn't it? The iPhone isn't
forthcoming with good news when I click on the Stocks app...

Sunday cookin'

Like Tina Fey's Sarah Palin, I don't like to pronounce the g's at the
ends of words. I also don't like that I've gotten so far from cooking
regularly. I really enjoy cooking. It's such a shame that I don't do
it as much as I used to. And with the economy the way it is, I'm
really stupid not to do it. But I've Bern spending nearly every
evening hour focusing on book club reading and my various music
activities.

So a couple of weeks ago, I stopped everything early on Sunday evening
to cook. I made sure to double recipes to have leftovers for work. It
was really easy, and I found myself eating things I wouldn't
otherwise. It is turning into a weekly ritual.

Tonight's meal was a tagine of cod with fresh heirloom tomatoes, olive
oil, cumin and cinnamon, with some Albarino added, plus rainbow chard
and rice. Plus more Albarino to drink. I made the tagine in my tagine,
which I bought a year ago at Crate & Barrel to make a lamb tagine for
book club. Most of the time it just sits around looking pretty.
Hopefully it will now begin earning its keep.

All in all, a fabulous, healthy dinner. Yes boys, I can cook. Another
reason for you to be beating a path to me RIGHT NOW.

Somebody in this house likes M&Ms!

As another long week draws to a close, Astro Kitty and I share a
tender moment of asphyxiation, in between articles from Food & Wine.