musubi snacks and moonwalks

Before I left for Fall Break in Las Vegas, I visited groupon to see what deals I might want. That was a great idea! I found out about the 8th Annual Pure Aloha Fall Festival and Concerts at the Rio! I found out abour the MJ LIve: Michael Jackson Tribute Show at the Rio! And I was able to coordinate the two events for one grand day and evening on this sunny Sunday in October. Sweet!!!
I knew today would be the final day for the Pure Aloha Festival, so I had thought things might be winding down, some of the vendors gone, perhaps no more stage events. Wrong, wrong, and wrong! True, I had arrived fairly early - hey, my "$8 for two tickets" voucher said 11 AM as the start time and I had arrived about 11:15. Still, this IS Las Vegas, home of nocturnal creatures. The entertainment hadn't yet begun, but the merchandisers and food vendors were already displaying their wares.

First up was this SPAM concoction. I had already made the outer circuit of vendors and was cruising the inner lines when the word "SPAM" leapt out at me. Kama'aina Kravings' menu listed several variations of musubi and when I asked the young woman behind the register about them, she described them as "Hawaiian comfort food". Good enough for me! At $5 for two, I decided I could eat one there and save the other for later.
I opted to NOT get the deep-fried version. As it was, the musubi was roughly palm-sized, with a thick block of white rice and healthy seaweed paper. And you know what? It was quite tasty! The fishy taste of the seaweed combined surprisingly well with the hammy taste of the meat. I can certainly understand why it's called comfort food!

For my main entree, I ventured back to a booth that billed itself as healthy food, but...seriously? If you offer barbequed pork and grilled sausage, that isn't quite healthy, is it? No. But it was tasty! Also, as you can see, they offer heapin' helpin's of food for only $8. They even let me split the meat portion into half chicken and half sausage and didn't charge extra. Nice! My favorite part of this meal, though, was the Hawaiian corn. The man said it was his grandma's recipe and that she liked to have it for dessert. Corn kernels with shredded coconut and some coconut milk, that's all it was. Delicious, too, especially with the spicy sausage!
While dining, I spoke to several visitors at the table. Like me, most happened to be in Las Vegas and had stumbled upon the festival, but some regular attendees were there, too. After all, where else will they eat island food in this landlocked part of the world? I even had some Portuguese doughnuts (malasadas) later from the Hula Halua Kaleo O'Kalani booth - a baker's half-dozen! (They were good as not-too-sweet desserts for my next few meals in that neon-bedecked town.)

Seven drummers had been entertaining all of us as we ate beneath the canopied tables. Then, at 1 PM, the dancing began! The Hupa Hula Overall Competition began, with the winners from the previous three days now dancing for the grand title. Most of the dancers were women, some teenaged, some in their twenties and thirties, and one each in the categories of forty and over-fifty year old. Believe me, those older women certainly had the moves!
But what I liked best were the male dancers. Shake it, shake it, baby, aahhh, shake it, shake it... Ah, pardon my drool, but if you had been there, you would know exactly what I mean. Just in case, the photo above is of one of those young men. Very nice!
Next up was a six- (or was that seven-)man band called Mele Ka Mana. Some of the songs were definitely danceable, some seemed to be ballads, most were not in English. A group of dancers happened upon the scene during the last few songs and that was very entertaining.
But I was starting to flag. The morning sun had taken its toll on my energy level, so I decided to catch the free shuttle back to Bally's on The Strip. Maybe I would take a nap, maybe not, but I would definitely get out of the sun for a while.
I didn't take a nap, but I did take a cool shower and that revived me. Plus, I ate my other musubi and one of the malasadas and that recharged my energy levels. Back up the road to Bally's I walked, making it there just in time to take the last seat on the shuttle - whew! There are distinct advantages to traveling solo and this was definitely one of them. Most groups didn't want to be split up, so singles could usually get lone seats as the vehicle filled up. Yeah, me!

I made it to Rio just in time to get in line for the show...which meant almost ninety minutes before the doors would open. Whoa. I had not expected that. Good thing I had already exchanged my groupon voucher for my ticket, as that line was already long, too.
The show was very good. If I had not already seen the Meat Loaf event, I may have enjoyed it more. And if there had not been a microphone/mixer issue during the first song, that would have helped, too. But by the third song, I was suspending disbelief and was dancing in my seat to Thriller, Billie Jean, Black and White - oh, yeah! Then he started doing some of the old Jackson 5 numbers and I was loving it! By the time all was sung and danced, I'd had a great time.

By 9:30 that night, I was on the shuttle (last single seat again!) back to my side of Sin City. I had promised myself that I would venture to Twin Peaks to check out their venison chili and bread pudding. I had noticed those two items on their menu a couple of days earlier and was intrigued. First of all: venison chili? Oh, really? And we all know how crazy I am about bread pudding, don't we?
So, as it was on my way "home" to Polo Towers, it was a natural to stop by. I had one of the best waitresses ever. Attentive, friendly, helpful... and she wrote such nice things on my receipt! The food was very good, too, and I look forward to having the bread pudding in the morning for breakfast.
I gave her the ice cream.

insider information

"Dinner! Here, dinner!"
When I wrote that particular line in February, I should have added a sidebar for its origin. You see, that line - or its kin, "Supper! Here, supper! - has been part of my repertoire for many years. In fact, so much time has elapsed since it first came into being that I cannot recall even an approximation of its birth.
At this point in the game, it simply is.
My ex and I coined it and used it frequently.
Neither of us wanting to cook? "The Line" to the rescue! Out we would go in search of meals prepared by others.
Hungry and can't wait for food to be cooked? "The Line" would point us in the direction of the closest Mexican restaurant (where they feed you chips and salsa NOW) or Chinese buffet (where they allow you immediate access to ready and waiting food).
The food is on the stove and almost done? "The Line" would be trotted out to indicate that something sure was smelling good around here! How much longer until it was done?

The peace Guy and I have our own little insider joke.
We're the "dessert first" people.
Back a while ago, he and I had gone to Fiddler's Seafood with a Valpak coupon. I can't recall the specifics of the coupon, but I think it was a buy-one-entree, get-a-discount-on-another type of deal.
That evening, they were featuring peach cobbler.
Nice! Next to bread pudding, that's my dessert of choice!
One problem: it was served a la mode.
So a lactase would have to be sacrificed... or would it?
Heck no! I could get the ice cream on the side and give it to the peace Guy! Right?
Yeah! Sounded good to him!
Oh, and could we go ahead and start with dessert, instead of getting a more traditional appetizer?
Um, sure, the waiter said. We can do that.
Coolness!
And so it was done.
We had our dessert first, him eating the ice cream, me sharing some of the cobbler with him. And it was good: the food, the company, and life itself.
Later that evening, the peace Guy was at one of the hot spots on River Street with a friend who has some resemblance to me. Suddenly he hears "Hey, there are the dessert first people!" And it's the waiter from Fiddler's!
He had recognized the peace Guy, of course.
Coolness!
And so was born that tale, a tale which resurfaces from time to time, as it did today.
The peace Guy shared it at a going-away luncheon at a restaurant new to both of us. Three friends had joined us there and, as I was perusing the dessert listings, he regaled them with the tale.
Very nice!
I'm so glad we have that special shared memory!
It's so very important to have people who know me.

bang, bang! happy birthday!

Free dinner! Well, not quite, but almost! Even better, I got hugs before dinner and hugs after dinner!
Say what? Waitstaff was giving out free hugs?!?
Well... not to everyone... just to me!
My dear Nate of Italy was my server tonight - yeah!!!! I had barely been seated when he came over and greeted me with a huge smile and ready hug! You know how he knew it was me, even from the back? My sunglasses, those cheap shades with the neon green sides that I wore on the trip to Italy last year. Since then, I've bought a new pair, this time all neon green, but have yet to wear them. After all, as clearly revealed on this visit, how would anyone recognize me without them?
That was the start of a fine birthday meal! The restaurant supplied my main course, Bang Bang Shrimp, gratis, then I rounded out my dinner with a side of veggies. Yum! Plus, of course, the crispy bread with the pesto in olive oil, whisking me through the miles and back in time to Salerno by the sea. Very nice!
You may be thinking, hey, that sounds like a fairly light meal, there. An appetizer and steamed vegetables? Ah, perhaps, but I was making sure I had room for dessert! Just as they had last year around this time, Bonefish also had their special "peanut butter and jelly" bread pudding for this evening's repast. This time, though, I ate it right there, rather than for breakfast the next day. I even ate the peanut butter ice cream, burning two lactase supplements along the way!
Very much worth it!
If I had been at home, I would have licked the platter clean.
You would have, too.

bread pudding!

Last Thursday evening, I ventured downtown for a game of chemistry nerd trivia. Seriously! I belong to ACS and, roughly once monthly, the local section gets together, mostly to quaff a few beers and talk trash, but also for some shared science.
This time, the science was in the form of multiple-choice questions instead of a lecture by a guest speaker. Yeah!
Not that the lectures aren't fun! Au contraire, mon frer! Even for those few times I know nothing about the specific topic, I can almost always walk away with new knowledge under my belt.
If I had a belt.
Which I don't.
But I digress.
The reason the trivia usually draws a bigger crowd and is more "fun" is this: PRIZES! Woohoo! Not just for the top two scorers, nosirree bob! The bottom two scorers also are rewarded for their efforts!
I did not receive a prize on this occassion, scoring 11 out of 25. The top two were at 19 and 16. The bottom marks were at 5 and 7. I would have had another two points if I had done as I advise my students and gone with my "gut" - ah, yes, do as I say, not as I do, y'all!
Two of the questions I answered correctly were with thanks to the bfe, either directly or indirectly. Yes, knowing a physicist who rambles on a bit can be helpful, as you do tend to pick up a trinket or two of knowledge along the way. Double magic elements are, perhaps not so surprisingly, one of those jewels the magician had tossed into my brain's path; as it was bright and shiny, the magpie in my mind had glommed onto it and tucked it away to admire at its leisure. When the question arose, the magpie dug out the treasure, granting me a correct answer to add to my score. Sah-weet! A direct nod to the bfe!
The other question I attribute to his friendship, but indirectly. How so? Well, one evening while my students were taking a test, I had no reading material with me. ACK! What to do for the next seventy minutes??? Well, there IS a Periodic Table in the room... Oh, oh, I know! Let's make names using the symbols of the elements!

And, so, that is how I passed the time, starting with my name first, of course. Fluorine-Gold-Sulfur-Titanium-Sodium. Woohoo! Christina - hmm... no direct way, but if I added NOT lines (to reverse the letters), I had Carbon-Hydrogen-NOT Iridium-Titanium-Sodium. Okay! Sandra became NOT Arsenic-Neodimium-NOT Argon. Hmmm, not sure how many NOTs should be allowed in this game. Let's substitute Radium instead of that second NOT. Okay, okay, let's try Jeff: where are the elements with a "J"? Drats, where ARE the elements with a "J"????? Well, dagnabbit. There are ZERO elements with a chemical symbol containing that letter of the alphabet.
And so, at chemistry nerd trivia, when the question arose about missing letters of the alphabet on the Periodic Table, I knew that answer immediately.
No prizes for me there, though.
So off I wandered to the expensive steak house in the next block on Bay. I had heard they had a mighty tasty bread pudding there, so I would treat myself to a comfort-food dessert at a nice place with a red piano in the lounge. The young woman at the entrance even checked with the kitchen to be sure they were not yet out of their apparently famous dish. Very nice touch!
There were no tables available in the main dining room, which meant I would sit in the lounge. Yeah! And get spoiled rotten by the waitstaff there. Yeah! All whilst being regaled by lovely music played live, and lively, on the red piano. Yeah!
An hour and a half later, I issued forth from that lounge, full of delicious bread pudding and decaf coffee. I also had a bag in hand. Leftovers??? Not hardly! I ate that whole lovely, moist, raisin-dotted treat all by myself, thank you! But I did have the forethought to order one to go for the next morning, one to share with the peace guy.

pbj

PBJ in a brand new way

that's the way that I started my day

the very first day of my brand new year





lots of well-wishers yesterday
with words of hope
with words of cheer
with words of love for my brand new year

words for my head
words for my heart
words for my spirit
words to uplift me as i start my brand new year

yesterday i spent alone
getting my new car tag decal
getting my taxes straightened out
getting a thanksgiving turkey rolypoly with cornbread stuffing and cranberry sauce
yum!

yesterday i spent alone
getting my head straight
getting my heart straight
getting well wishes
getting well

today was the first day of my brand new year
pbj in a brand new way 4 breakfast
bread pudding with peanut butter ice cream and raspberry jelly
4 breakfast
yum!