Tidbits

Here’s how weird Max is. Since I started exercising regularly, which is coming up on three years, Max has had a fondness for my yellow exercise mat. I would lay the mat out and put two notebooks and a pen next to it so I could write about the albums that I was exercising to at the time while lying on my back with my legs up against the wall. I had been writing and posting on the blog nearly every night. Remember those days? As I would get the aerobic portion of the routine done, Max would often go lie on the mat himself. He liked the mat. Even when I rolled it up and it took on a whole new shape, he would swat back when he’d get bopped with it. It was playtime. I rolled it nice and tight to store it in an old magazine rack. After a while, the mat would remain partially curled up when unrolled. I put up with this for a very long time, as I am not the swiftest human on the planet, and it took me till not too long ago to figure out that if I rolled it looser, it wouldn’t curl up. Trouble is, Max no longer recognizes the fatter roll as plaything, and viewing it as a threat, runs and hides after I’m done exercising and putting the mat away.

I was going to tell a story tonight. But I think this is what you’re getting. Tidbits. That’s exercise, and Max. Here’s diet – I’ve been cooking a lot of cauliflower lately. Focus on the cooking thing. Not a lot of that gets done around here, but I’m having fun starting with a whole head of cauliflower as my base as I concoct dishes by experimenting with spices and other ingredients. (Caution: Just because you have leftover red wine, it doesn’t mean you can throw it in any dish.) As I have to eat all my concoctions, the good news is that all dishes so far have been edible, however nothing I would serve to guests. And while we’re talking food, sadly I’ve not been able to have my usual brunch served by my wonderful waiter at Tribeca’s Kitchen for the past two weeks. Last Sunday there was a note on the window about a gas leak that had occurred in the residential part of the restaurant’s building. And there was the sign again this morning. As I stared at the note today I heard honking. The owner drove up and told me that the leak had been fixed immediately last week, but it was all the paperwork that was taking so long. They’ll be open again on Wednesday. I had to go to the diner nearer to where I live, which is far inferior to Tribeca’s Kitchen, and they don’t understand the importance of coffee, and making sure my cup is always full.

Music – I killed the ex’s Linda Ronstadt CD. Damn. No more “Desperado.” I don’t have that on any of my albums. Regardless, Linda is still helping me improve my vocal chords as most workouts these days begin with me singing along with the first quarter of Heart Like a Wheel. I had the ex’s best of CD on the other evening while doing the dishes when it just went wonky, and as I couldn’t listen to it, I got a hankering to hear Rod Stewart’s Gasoline Alley. Still one of the best. And mighty scratchy.

Writing – I hate working. But it gives me an excuse not to write or to focus my thoughts on the story I’m writing. Actually stories. I have too many ideas. Writer’s block is not my issue. Avoidance and procrastination, the symptoms of more deep-seated issues are.

BTW – Why do you think there is such aversion to producing really well-done French fries when they are specifically ordered that way? Ah well. If they came the way I ordered, I would eat them. And yes, you can have too much cauliflower. It’s either chicken or fish for dinner tonight.

Beautiful weather in NYC this weekend, J. How ’bout you?