I stumbled across this blogsite:
http://earthmother-intheraw.blogspot.com/

And found this cute photo.  I.mean.cute!

Dining and Whining -most of the Dining

Hey Y'all,
So a brief edit needs to be made here
1- because I learned my blog is actually being read (yay and thank you!) and
2- there's alot less dining out happening!

My pointless ramblings, attempts at creative writing, and mental diarrhea will be posted more regularly than every 3 months... and in sticking with the title and theme of this blog, there will be some whining, but not exclusively.  I'll save most of that for my real-and-not-cyberspace friends!  I'd hate to lose my charm.
Isn't it ironic (cue Alanis Morissette) that the act of creative writing can actually help destruct, disarm and elucidate bigger and invisible "things"- oh like feelings, paranoias, compulsions or dreams; the real and the imagined?  Yes, and I like the idea of a hobby that is mostly constructive.  How novel.  And I like the idea of destructing things; real or imagined, that won't hurt anyone.  I like the idea of not hurting people in general, and anyways I like the idea of destructing creatively or creating (destruction) with images and words.  Noun and verb and adverb interchanges- exotic!  Let's remember that neither destruction nor creation have to equal destroying but there is usually some kind of collateral damage involved in either process.  Hurting and pain are subjective after all.  You digg?  Justification.
And maybe something that I type will spur someone onto another creative endeavor...I'm thinking the Butterfly Effect with words and thoughts (not breezes from lepidoptera (nod to Dr. Williams)).  It's almost invisible at first!   But while we're talking about butterflies let's think about molting and growing and irreversible processes like chemical v. physical changes.  Remember those stupid examples in grade school?  What is baking a cake?  What is forming ice from water?  What is blah blah blah?  (chemical and physical respectively)
So if I am destructing/breaking myself down/changing my understanding of things and myself and other people, who's changing?  WHAT's changing?  Me?  Only me?  My brain chemistry?  My understanding of my surroundings and myself and my interactions with these things?  What is real (cue the skin horse)?  Let's shine a flashlight up in this cave Plato.  Aaagh!  Is this an irreversible process?  Will I hurt anyone?  Will I destroy anyone?  I don't want to do that.  Will I make a change?  What will the change be?  I'm starting with the man in the mirror (cue MJ). Will any of me get destroyed?  These questions are hard to contain in one posting within a 2x4 box of 12 pt Times font for now.  But I want to know and I want to understand and I want to create and I want to grow!  And I can't wait another minute.
Are you excited and still reading, or not?!  Now, when I talk about growth and development I am not constraining this to a linear type of growth.  Much like I don't believe the definition of "evolution" is exclusively linear.  It just can't be.  And like the irony I first started with at the beginning of this post, sometimes progress requires or is synonymous with regression...it all depends on how you define the terms of the game.  Change and changing are definites though.  Hurting and pain don't have to be.
You can see how I've kept therapists employed, won friends, and entertained strangers with this type of thinking?
Ok, that's enough for now.  But I'm back with a bit of pizazz and it feels good.  Look out Stella, I'm gettin' my groove back.

Caffe Milano review

Note to self:

When ordering lunch at a restaurant and the (Foreign, Male) owner’s sunglasses are bigger, fancier, and costlier than mine...the food better be pretty d*mn tasty.  I mean, considering a man-diva (oh don’t search that online kids!) is at the helm of the metaphorical ship, right?  It’s kind of like equating the preference for a simple cup of coffee with a simple person.  Not that, for example a cowboy couldn’t like a half-caf, low-fat, venti, no foam, sugar- free vanilla, extra-hot cappuccino, but I’m just sayin’ that probably would not be the first coffee drink he would shuffle up to the bar(ista) and order.  And a cowboy probably wouldn’t know how to make that order for you but probably would laugh at your half-caf-*ss.  Not that cowboys typically make or sell coffee beverages either, (except for these guys: http://www.cowboycoffee.com/ )  but if you follow my equation, a divalicious business owner would have a penchant for things divalicious and would be selling divaliciousness.  If we were playing charades imagine me miming “sounds like deliciousness”.  Cue: rub your tummy in a clockwise fashion.

This afternoon I found myself in downtown Tucson for personal business and wandering along Congress Street.  When my stomach decided it was time to nosh I rolled into Caffe Milano Restaurant Italiano, 46 W Congress Street:  http://www.caffemilano.us/

The place was cute, clean and packed with people.  Check, check and check.  After choosing a table I learned I had to place the order at the cashier myself.  Fine.  To keep my table I left my sunglasses and fleece vest outside at the table.  I was going to order the Marinated Shrimp until I learned that the small, sad shellfish under fluorescent lights in the drink cooler were the dish.  So I chose lunch special #3:  Penne Al Gorgonzola, Penne pasta in a creamy Italian Gorgonzola sauce garnished with fresh spinach.  When I returned the misters had come on and did not cut off for the rest of my lunch!  “Refreshing” you think at first but not when the water drops are heavier than dew.   

Not that tasty has to be fussy; I actually prefer that it is not.  And actually Caffe Milano Restaurant Italiano did deliver un-fussy food...to the point of a bleak, barren, stark, where’s-the-butter-for-my-cold-bread-slices and some freash-grated-parmesan cheese for my lunch special #3 with raw spinach leaves on top.  I mistakenly assumed that it would have filled me up with that loving feeling that Italian food often does- when it’s cooked with passion and amore.  Not so much. 

Now, you read my blog you know I am from the South.  My family has been on this continent long enough to have been counted in the first census and to have fought in the Civil War.  We are mutts without a lick of any shade of Italian anywhere (well that anyone admits to).  So maybe I am way off the mark here in expecting butter and cheese- wait wait wait, I said Italian restaurant, right?  Frappin’ “Restaurant(o) Italiano”.  Give me a break!  I do know that there are regional aspects to Italian cuisine but butter and cheese are two I have come to expect and love.  

Rita Connelly’s review from October 2006 entitled “Intelligent Italian”  is a link of the *Caffe’s* website.  She says “...Caffe Milano will delight”.  That was my last impression for my only visit.

Conclusion: Disappointed

Champagne Looks on a Beer Budget

That's right and why not?  These are my LVs and I do. not. need. them. anymore.  So, I am ready to part with them at a financial loss.  Check it if you're interested in a pretty picture and a laugh:
http://tucson.craigslist.org/clo/1347810011.html
http://tucson.craigslist.org/clo/1347452666.html
http://tucson.craigslist.org/clo/1347423846.html

You want cheese with that whine?; 4 generations, 1 roof

CRAP!  I was excited for all 4 generations (baby G, me, my mom, her mom) to be under one roof until I got this email for my mother:

"Hey, Sweetie,

     How are you this sunny Saturday?  It's very warm and humid here...  Since (we) are staying with you and we're both breakfast eaters, would you please have the following for us:

1. Breyers Light yogurt (it's nonfat)--4 or 5 containers

2, Maxwell House instant coffee

3. Half and Half

4. Welch's grape juice to match the yogurt (since I make smoothies, if you buy peach or strawberry yogurt, please buy the peach-flavored white grape juice.  If you buy the cherry or blueberry yogurt, please buy the purple Welch's.)     

5. Whole wheat bread

6. American cheese (sliced)

7. Eggs

8. Bananas

     For lunch one day, let's go to that restaurant with the spinach souffle.  Another day let's have lunch at the little Asian restaurant with the funny name near your house."

Seriously, I couldn’t make this up.   I did however email her “thank you for communicating your needs so clearly”.  Seriously, is anyone else’s mother out there this neurotic?  Crap.  Get the Tums with Calcium ready for when my IBS kicks in.  Seriously.

We need this! Scorpion Bowls

Life in the desert.  Scorpion Stings.  Got my first two last week, while I was sleeping.  Check it out; you can see the sting in the middle of the pic and the OUTLINE of the SCORPION on the right side of the pic (my arm).  This is because I had FALLEN ASLEEP on it for at least 1 hour before I rolled over and gave him the wiggle room to sting me!!!!

We need this:
http://www.scorpionsafe.com/cart.php?m=content&page=8

Or this:
http://www.scorpionhunter.com/?gclid=CIfPvcO_z5wCFRBbagodg26pIQ

And probably this too:

Scorpion * Largest drink in the world, a conglomeration of rums, gin,brandy and liqueurs, plus tropical fruit juices. Superbly blended and beautifully served. Sipped through Kon Tiki super long straws. The recipe is not available to anyone but Kon Tiki mixologists

from: http://www.kontikitucson.com/menudrink.html

Mommy's Whine

THIS was a wonderful gift from a close friend.  Served icy cold, this Pinot Grigio (we like to say Pinot "Greege") was refreshingly acidic enough to make your mouth water yet light enough that it won't slow down your afternoon plans for fun in the sun!
Here's what the pros say:
http://www.winelegacy.com/ItemDetail.aspx?Item_ID=361
Cheers y'all!