A Week in Five Acts
Yesterday for dinner I steamed the sample frozen tamales I brought home from work, at Scott's suggestion. There was a packet of three smaller pumpkin ones; a packet of three smaller chocolate cherry ones; and a packet of one larger "spicy bean" one that, while it was easily the tastiest of all of them, was not in any way "spicy" whatsoever. I told Scott that this morning and he said Shobhit's cooking is making me acclimated to spiciness. Uh . . . no. I still hate spicy food. I likely always will, and Shobhit wanting to get me more used to spicy food continues to be an affront to me, to be perfectly honest. I shouldn’t have to just "get used" to something I don't like just because it's something my husband likes. So anyway, in light of such comments -- that bean tamale was not spicy in the slightest.
It was the first time I ever "steamed" anything. When I said on Facebook that I hoped I wouldn't fuck it up, Beth (Barbara's daughter) said it's hard to fuck up tamales. Which I suppose is true, although I kind-of-almost did still fuck something up: I let the small layer of waiter boil away completely, and when Shobhit asked if something was burning, I discovered the bottom of the pot to be burned black. The tamales were fine, but the pot not so much. Although I was able to use an SOS pad to clean most of it away, so really, in the end even the pot was fine.
We also watched the rest of the HBO Original documentary Jane Fonda in Five Acts. Shobhit quite easily predicted that each act would be her father; her three husbands; then herself. Still, I really liked the film, and found it surprisingly illuminating -- I knew about all that "Hanoi Jane" stuff, but there was still far more to her, her life, and her career than I realized. I should add several of her movies I've never seen to my Netflix queue.
Then we watched the season premiere of season ten (!) of Modern Family. It was pretty good. Later we watched the season premiere of The Big Bang Theory, which cracked me up a few times but was otherwise, predictably, dumb. I don’t hate it like this guy I follow on Twitter does, but I will concede it's not nearly as good as it used to be.
Otherwise, I read a little more of my library book, caught up on personal email, and that's about it.
I've got a comfortably full schedule set for the weekend. Happy Hour with Laney tonight, to honor her 61st birthday on Sunday; a party at Sachin's in Kent tomorrow night; brunch with Shobhit to use a 2-for-1 entrée coupon on the last day before it expires on Sunday. I think I'll also take myself to a movie tomorrow morning.
It's even warmer today, with an expected high of 72°, ending the month at work with a bang, weather-wise. We got an email from Aimée the Office Manager this morning that after today, the cushions on the patio furniture are being taken away from cleaning and storage through the winter. So this really is my last chance to eat on the patio, no matter how warm it might still be next week. Or at least, on any seat with a cushion, anyway.
Oh! I almost forgot to mention I went on another "loop walk" through Myrtle Edwards park with Alicia yesterday afternoon at 3:00. This always takes us about twenty minutes. The typical practice is for her to email about five or six of us to ask if anyone is interested in joining her for the walk. More often than not, I am the only one who responds with a yes. We always chat a lot as we walk briskly along. I wonder if we'll continue to do this even in wetter weather? I might be willing, actually, especially if I have my umbrella with me.
This week has been exceptionally nice, though, on the whole.
[posted 12:19 pm]