Monday, July 30, 2007

Playing Catch-up


Hey there, everybody! Sorry I disappeared for a couple of days, but I'm back and ready to catch everyone up on my goings on. For the better part of last week and this weekend, I've been fighting a pretty awful cold. This thing just refuses to go away. I feel good now, for the most part, but my head is still very congested. My boss suggested pumping warm saltwater through my nose and sinus cavity, an idea which scares the bejesus out of me. I think it's an irrational fear, but I just have a feeling that it would pool at the base of my brain and turn me into Forrest Gump or something, like a reverse Flowers for Algernon. I'll just sit here feeling like my head is underwater for another couple of days, thank you.
So, let's see, what's happened since last you saw your hero (me)? I went with both of the guys who were my college roommates to see The Simpsons Movie on Saturday. The Simpsons is the single defining cultural work of my generation. The movie didn't disappoint. It was like 4 very good episodes of the TV show strung together. A lot of the jokes worked really well, and the ones that didn't weren't terrible. The whole theater seemed to be enjoying it. I can't wait for the DVD to see all the stuff they cut out. Now, my former roommates and I had our Simpsons rituals. My freshman dorm-mate, Mike (his blog's linked on the right side of this one), and I barely talked for a year. It's not that we didn't like each other, but we didn't really become friends until we moved into our own places. But, we did connect on cartoons. Sunday nights we'd watch King of the Hill and The Simpsons (and Futurama if it was on, if memory serves), then turn to Comedy Central and watch The Critic, Dr. Katz, and Duckman. It was our common ground and it has served us well. My other roommate, Josh, and I based the ritual around entire Sundays, especially in football season. During the afternoon games, we would order two pizzas (always Pizza Hut, often P'zones if they were available) and eat one during football and the other during Simpsons. After football season, the pizzas were just for The Simpsons. Neither one of these routines was broken very often, and even with the slightly lower quality of recent Simpsons seasons, they were good times. So, the movie, for us, was a huge deal. And we all left happy. That's as good a review as I think I can give.
Yesterday, I took Melissa out to dinner to celebrate her birthday, which is tomorrow. I wanted to take her to a Japanese Teppan Yaki steak house (like Benihana). Now, in Atlanta, every strip mall has one of these places. They're everywhere. LA apparently isn't as fond of them. I found a total of 3 in the valley: Benihana in Encino (too expensive), some place (Shogun?) in Pasadena, and Mori in Glendale, where we ate. It was damn good. I'd never had lobster on a hibachi before, but it worked really well. I want one of those hibachi tables installed in my house when I'm filthy rich. Every time I go to one of these places, I'm struck by how similar the routine is no matter where you are. The chef cracks an egg on a spatula, he tosses a shrimp you're supposed to catch in your mouth, he builds an onion volcano, etc. Where do these guys train? I picture a place liken Kitchen Stadium from (the original) Iron Chef and a ton of recruits sloppily tossing knives and eggs in the air, cutting off their ears and whatnot. I always imagine a kung-fu montage of these guys training set to the "You're the Best" song from The Karate Kid. Always cracks me up.
Finally, I have a new love in my life, and I don't even own it yet: I am dying for a new Apple MacBook. I've been obsessing over this for a while now (as is my wont) and doing a TON of research (as is also my wont). I had thought about getting a MacBook Pro because I like the bigger screen, the option of matte screen, and the aluminum case; but I couldn't justify spending nearly twice as much for computing power I wouldn't need. That left me with one decision- black or white. Initially, it was no contest. All I wanted was black. But, if I were to build an identical white one, it would cost $125 less. Why should I pay $125 for a different color? Also, many of the reviews I read said that fingerprints and smudges are more obvious on the black one and that the white one is easier to clean. That's worth something. So the black is more manly. Bah. White is more futurey and it matches my Ipod and Wii and Nintendo DS. I'm man enough to not need a black computer to prove it. Now, comes the hard part- the wait. Apple is releasing OSX 10.5 Leopard in October. If I buy a computer now, I'll have to pay an additional $150 to upgrade when it comes out. I've tried very hard to convince myself that this isn't a big deal, but it is. So, I'll probably be waiting two months to buy my computer. If the wait doesn't kill me first.

1 comment:

  1. My Sunday ritual was (and is) to make a big pot of pasta and invite anyone who wants some to come. We'll eat it during King of the Hill, or between Simpsons and whatever's on at 8. Been doing it since my first year i college, where, due to a lack of kitchen, it was mostly chef boy-ar-dee instant junk. Now I have an italian grocery importer on the corner. Life is good.

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